


Soul Eater Wonderland

by CatCrescent



Series: Crona Bedtime Stories [1]
Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Alice in wonderland crossover, Crona Bedtime Stories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-27 05:36:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13241541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatCrescent/pseuds/CatCrescent
Summary: An installment of the Crona's Bedtime Stories Series. A girl named Maka drifted too far into her dreams and fell into Wonderland. It is oppressed by an evil, snake queen, and, with the help of a snappy rabbit named Soul, Maka takes up the challenge to defeat Medusa. The challenges get worse with each step forward, begging the question if all dreams are truly worth saving.





	1. Chapter 1

In the cold, stone halls of the lower levels of Shibusen, was one of the many small rooms. This room had a bed in the corner, a desk with an unlit lamp and a bared window high above one’s reach.

The heavy metal door opened and a slim figure walked in, wearing a long sleeve, black dress with large white cuffs, matching black shoes. This person had short pink hair and black eyes with lines under them. Crona held a red, hardcover book and shut the door with a dull thud.

Ragnarok’s small, black form emerged from Crona’s back, huffing angrily, “Why are we back home already? I thought we were going to do something interesting!”  


“But we did do something interesting…we went book shopping with Maka,” Crona mumbled. The sword Meister traced a pale finger over the golden lettering, _Alice in Wonderland_ , and added, “She said I might like this story. Maybe it’ll help me sleep.”  


“It’ll probably make better toilet paper,” Ragnarok grumbled.  


“That’s really gross…” Crona mumbled.  


With a pair of shoes left by doorway, Crona settled into bed, despite Ragnarok still jutting out. The Meister grabbed the book and asked, “I could read this aloud for you, if you wanted. Maybe you’ll like it too…”  


“I have a better idea—toss the book and let’s do something fun.”  


“…I don’t want to do that.”  


Ragnarok scoffed, “Fine. Be boring.”  


He receded in Crona’s back, and Crona settled more comfortably on the bed. The room was quiet. Crona opened the book and mumbled, “Oh, there’s pictures. They’re cute.”  


Crona paused, seeing a picture of a rabbit in a waistcoat. Memories came oozing up like thick oil. A prickling chill went up Crona’s spine. The book trembled in Crona’s hands, and the Meister murmured, “I don’t want to hurt the bunny…”  


The silence was deafening. Crona badly wanted to shut the book and not look at it anymore. However, Crona also didn’t want to disappoint Maka. _What did she tell me to do if I felt scared?_ Crona wondered. _If I felt alone?_  


Crona remembered. Maka put a warm hand on Crona’s shoulder and said, _Remember your friends. No matter how far apart we are, our friendship is still there._  
Letting out a shaky sigh, Crona relaxed partly and looked at the book. Flipping back to the first page, Crona observed the picture of a girl sitting by a tree and thought she was pretty. _I’ll think of my friends,_ Crona reasoned. _I’ll think of my friends and I won’t feel alone while I read._  


For the first line, Crona replaced ‘Alice’ with ‘Maka,’ and felt better enough to keep reading, mind eventually drifting.  


~~~~~~  


The sun shined through the clouds around it on the green valley below. There was a thick forest, with healthy green leaves and strong brown trunks, crowded by a peaceful village. Just outside of the small town was a small grassy valley. A large, shady tree stood alone in the valley but near the forest.  


Maka sat on her knees in the shade and leaned against the tree. She wore a short sleeved, yellow dress with a white apron over it and black slippers. Part of her dark blonde hair was held up in two small pigtails with white bows and the rest reached past her shoulders. Her large, green eyes stared down at the large, open book in her lap.  


Steps approached, and a large shadow loomed over her. It was a tall man with short grey hair just barely over the yellow eyes behind his glasses. He wore a long white lab coat with dark pants, shirt and shoes.  


“Oh, hello, Mr. Stein,” the girl greeted and shut her book. He puffing a cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke.  


“Hey, Maka,” he greeted casually. His glasses gleamed as he looked down at her, asking, “Class has already ended and you’re still reading?”  


Maka smiled and hugged her book, “Well, I can’t really help it. I really like reading.”  


He looked away and blew out more smoke, “You know, if you stray from reality for too long, you might end up getting lost in your head. Some people never come back.”  


Maka smiled and reopened her book. She respected her teacher but what he was saying sounded ridiculous.  


“I doubt that would happen,” Maka replied and continued reading. Stein shrugged and walked off.  


She continued to read peacefully and leaned against the tree trunk. However, she kept leaning back, never touching the trunk until she found herself falling backwards into a hole. She was too surprised by this to cry out and lost her book without realizing it. The feeling of falling eventually fell away itself and she felt like she was floating upside-down.  


Light was above her and darkness was below then she realized she was slowly falling away from the light. As she continued through the darkness soon dark red started to appear below her and she could make out clock shapes around her. She started to fall faster and looked down at the red. Suddenly, she slammed onto a red and black checkered tile.  


“Ah!” she cried out in pain as her knee felt most of the impact. After an agonizing minute, she stood up. Behind her was the circular end of the red-walled hall. There was a small brown table with a black vase, red flowers and there were yellow moldings. Above her, was the endless blackness, however, a dark red ceiling appeared farther down the small, red hall. Down the hall was a large brown door in an intersection. She started down the hall and heard a demonic whisper. Maka froze and looked around.  


Seeing nothing, she continued. The whisper came again but slightly louder so she sped up. She reached the door and saw the white wall around it was covered by dark red curtains. She looked on her left and right, both of the ends of the hall had an opened curtain leading to utter blackness. Maka heard the whisper again and tried to open the door. Locked. Her heartbeats quickened, and she desperately looked around. Unknown to her, something stared from behind the curtains at the end of the hall and grinned with pleasure.  


Looking around, she noticed a small wooden table in a corner on her left, in front of the black curtain. She saw another black vase on the table and a blue key. At the end of the key was a blue circle with thin, blue wings. The whisper came again, nearly deafening, and she took the key. She quickly returned to the door and slid in the key. It turned with a satisfying click, and she turned the doorknob. Quickly, she rushed out of the door and shut it behind her, pressing up against it for good measure. She panted, leaning against the door, and tried to recollect herself.  


Outside was a nearly endless valley, showered in sunlight. A dirt road led from the shady area, where she stood, left, right and straight to a large tree ahead. She turned to back to the door to see it was gone and there was nothing more but an enormous tree behind her. She looked at the blue key and pocketed it in her apron. Angry shouts caught her ear, and she turned back to the paths.  


Entering from the right was a boy her age but he had spiky yet fluffy, white hair. He wore a pure white tux with a white jacket, a white undershirt, white pants, white dance shoes and white gloves. He was tan, had flaring red eyes and clenched sharp teeth. Also, two rabbit ears stuck out of his hair and he had a matching rabbit tail. He muttered angrily as he had a large white sack on his back and held the straps over his shoulders to hold up the twelve, white, book-sized boxes in the sack.  


“Why do they make me deliver this stuff? Making me walk miles, for hours and hours,” he grumbled. He continued to stomp through the path and pulled out a gold pocket watch. He clicked it open with his thumb and checked the time. His eyes widened and he jumped.  


“Crap! I’m gonna be late!” he yelled as he stuffed the watch back in his pocket and hurried towards the tree across from Maka. She took her chance and ran towards him.  


“Excuse me?” Maka called out.  


He stopped and looked over his shoulder, “Heh?”  


“I was wondering if you could—”  


“Sorry, but I don’t have time for this. I’m in a hurry,” he said and waved his hand dismissively as he continued to walk. Maka, however, hurried back to his side.  


“Can’t you at least tell me where I am?” she asked. He stopped again and pointed a thumb towards the left.  


“Read the sign,” he answered through his teeth.  


“Sign?” She looked and saw a large wooden sign by the tree with “WONDERLAND” shown in faded blue letters.  


She looked back at the boy, only to see him jump down into a tunnel that led beneath the tree.  


“Hey, wait!” she started to follow after him. Maka stopped in front of the tunnel and saw a white box was left behind outside of it. _When he jumped in the tunnel, one must have fallen out,_ she thought. Maka picked it up and wondered, _What was he delivering, anyways?_ She opened the lid to reveal and small brown pouch with the word, _Tea_ in red letters.  


She closed the box and followed him down the stone stairs in the tunnel. She reached the end of the stairs to a black void. However, there were patches of tall green plants, with blue and pink buds, spread out far from each other on the invisible, black ground. Maka looked around for the rabbit but couldn’t see him, however, ahead of her was a black metal gate held up by two stone pillars and two guardsmen dressed in metal helmets and a suit of chain mail under long black and red tunics both carried a black lance in their hands.  


She held the box with both of her hands and bravely approached them.  


“Halt! Who goes there?” a guard called out spotting her. She stopped in front of them. The one on her left looked down at her and observed her. What caught his eye was a small, black, cursive _M_ on top of the box.  


“Oh! A tea deliverer!” he stated and opened the gate, “Please, hurry. You’re nearly late.”  


She blinked in confusion but was lightly pushed to the other side of the gate. Now she could make out a white path leading forward and splitting into three directions. The path on the left led to a black tree and tall grassed grove of trees with a lake farther down the hill, the right led through an endless-looking grove of the strange plants and the center path led to a black, metal, guard-less gate, up a tall hill to a white castle. Heading towards the gate, she saw the rabbit. Maka saw he was now only walking and she hurried towards him. His ears twitched at the sound of her footsteps.  


“Hey!” she called out. He stopped and turned. His eyes widened and ears perked.  


“Wha—how did you—” he tried to ask but stopped when she held out the box.  


“Um, you dropped this,” she answered. He grimaced and snatched the box out of her hands. “H-hey!”  


“Thanks, now, I gotta get movin’, okay?” he thanked insincerely then threw the box in the air and it landed perfectly back in the neat sack. He waved and continued to approach the gate. Maka pouted and ran towards him again. She grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back.  


“Now, hold on. What’s going on here?” Maka snapped.  


He glanced back her with his deep, red eyes. She kept his gaze. He sighed.  


“If you really want to know. I’m trying to deliver this tea to the Queen. I have to hurry at this point or I’m in big trouble,” he answered and pulled from her grasp. Maka looked down for a moment to let the information sink in.  


“A queen? Here? What is this place? This doesn’t make sense,” she looked back up at the boy but he was gone and the gates remained closed, “Dang it! Where did that rabbit go?”  


The gate was locked so she started down the path on her right to see if she could go around. When she entered, she heard someone in front of her and looked up at a looming, black figure. She saw a set of sharp, gleaming, white teeth and two yellow eyes. A huge hand slammed into her back and she fell to the ground, unconscious.  


***~~~  


Maka groaned and opened her eyes painfully. Her back ached and she felt that she was lying on a hard, cold, metal surface. She sat up in a large metal bird cage and looked at the background. She was in a wooden room with shelves on her left, a few chests and boxes on the ground, as she dangled from the ceiling, and a blinding light was on her left. Everything outside of the cage looked magnified in a distorted and blurry way.  


“I found this one wandering outside,” a deep male voice said. She could barely hear him. It sounded like her ears were clogged and she held her head as it spun, or was it the cage? She saw the looming black figure and he seemed to nearly reach the ceiling in Maka’s view.  


“Hmm, put her to work,” a woman replied. Suddenly, a large, black figure of a hooded woman leaned towards the cage. She had a snakelike smile and gleaming yellow eyes. Maka gasped and scooted to the back of the cage. Even so, the cage door opened and the man’s large hand plucked her out.  


“Heh, better get to work. Hurry over to the factory and don’t be late! Trust me you’ll regret it,” the man gruffly chuckled and threw her into the light.  


**~~  


It turned out the light was actually an open door that led to a silent village outside. Maka painfully landed on the grey, cobblestone street and tumbled across the ground onto her face. She looked around, everything was normal sized again, and she looked back at the normal sized door she was thrown out of but it slammed shut.  


Maka pouted. She got up, brushing off the dirt from her dress. She looked around the village. There were small stone huts with straw roofs and red doors, dark grey three story buildings built out of stone and concrete and pale blue two story buildings made of painted stone all scattered around. She glanced at a red picket fence on her right with dark brown soil in the backyard of a hut that had tall dead grass growing out of it. She looked up at the bleak, cloudy sky above her.  


_What is this place?_ She wondered. Maka looked back ahead of her and saw a wooden sign creakily, dangling from a metal pole on a three-story building nearby. She read, “Kishin…City?”  


Not sure what to make of it, Maka walked through the silent city. She looked around and scanned each building, but they seemed to look the same. After a while, Maka wondered if she was going in circles. _How am I supposed to figure out where the factory is?_ She groaned inwardly. _The gall of it. Throwing some girl out in the middle of a street of a city she’s never been in. Don’t be late? How can I now be late, looking something I’m not even sure where it is?!_  


A sad mewl caught her ear. There was a cat with dark, purplish fur with her leash tangled on a fence. Every time the cat moved her head, the bell on her collar jingled like a strangled, silver bird. Maka forgot her own problems for the moment and cautiously approached the cat. The creature looked up at her with shining, yellow eyes.  


“Don’t worry. I’m gonna help you,” Maka assured. She knelt by the cat and wrestled with the leash. However, the knots were tight and seemed to knot themselves up further the more she wrestled with them. _If only I had some scissors!_ Maka thought in annoyance. However, she then got the idea to undo the leash from the collar. As soon as she did, the cat let out a happy meow. Maka was about to leave, but the cat looked expectant, pawing at her dress.  


Maka asked, “What is it? Is there something else you want?”  


The cat pawed at the collar, and the bell rung like hollow, silver shells scraping against each other. “Oh, you want the _whole_ thing off?”  


Maka hesitated, unsure if it was a good idea to take off the collar of a cat that probably belonged to someone. She then reasoned, _If the cat dislikes it’s collar to the point of asking strangers to take it off, maybe it’s better off not wearing it in the first place._ With that thought, Maka removed the collar. The cat let out its loudest and happiest meow before rubbing against her leg with a purr. The cat then jumped atop the fence and bounded out of sight. Not sure what else to do with the collar, she pocketed it and it was muffled by the folds of her dress. Maka felt satisfied with her actions, though she quickly remembered her predicament and felt significantly less happy. With a sigh, Maka continued wandered through the streets. She asked herself, “Now how am I going to find that factory?”  


She stopped when a building across from her caught her eye. It was a tall, red, one story building with black windows, a large, red, boiling cauldron on the roof and a small wooden sign dangled above the black door on a metal pole but she couldn’t read it from where she stood. _Is that it?_ She asked herself.  


Maka started to walk towards it when she heard the noise of groups of people’s hurried footsteps echoing in other parts of the city. When those began to die down, a sign on the window reading, “Break Period-Open” which flipped over and read, “Work Hours-Closed.” Panic sunk in. She found herself rushing over to the door and discovering it was locked. Footsteps were heard echoing in the background towards her, but these footsteps were heavy, as if the sound alone crushed her. She didn’t want to look, hoping she wouldn’t be noticed, but her eyes moved to the left anyways. Two figures appeared around the corner. One was a man in a very dark blue uniform with brown, pointed dog ears poking out from a top his officer hat, which was placed upon his red, shoulder length hair, and a bushy brown dog tail poked out from under his jacket. The other figure was a large, bulky wolf-like man on all-fours in the same officer uniform but he had grey fur covered skin, spiky black hair, round yellow eyes and thick grey snout. The dog was holding a black leash on the wolf-like man then the two saw Maka.  


“A girl? What’s she doing out here?” the red-haired man wondered.  


“That’s the new meat just brought in. Not like it matters who she is. No one should be out at this hour,” the wolf-man gruffly replied.  


They headed towards her. A whisper cut her heart, _You’ll regret it._ She rattled the door to no prevail, and her legs felt too heavy to try running. Maka realized, The key! Quickly, she reached in her apron and pulled it out. She inserted it in the keyhole, hearing a click, and hurried in as soon as she unlocked it.  


Maka immediately shut the door behind her. She sighed and leaned against it. The noise of turning gears filled her ears. The building was poorly lit by a single lamp dangling high above the door and right next to a window. _Huh, it didn’t look very high from outside,_ Maka thought, looking at the window. She managed to see a conveyor belt coming out of the wall on the left, moving white boxes on it half-way across the room, then farther into the darkness. Across from the conveyor belt, there was a faded red orange door that stood out in the darkness.  


Also at the conveyor belt was a familiar, white figure with rabbit ears and his back turned to her. Maka saw that he wasn’t carrying that sack anymore and he didn’t look like he was going anywhere, so she walked over to him.  


He was opening the white boxes and pulled out bags of tea then set them back down on the conveyor belt. She tapped his shoulder and they both jumped as he threw a box in the air. The rabbit caught the box and turned to her, about to yell for scaring him. However, he recognized her immediately and he scrambled with the box he held with even greater shock. He gripped the box tightly this time and shook his head furiously, as if to wake himself up.  


“Wh-what are you doing here?! I mean—H-how do you keep—” he tried ask but his eyes fell from her face then he observed her for a second. His mouth closed in disappointed realization and his ears slightly drooped, “Oh. That’s why.”  


Maka tilted her head and hovered by him, waiting for him to continue. He returned to the conveyor belt and set the tea and open box on it.  


“What? What is it? Where am I?” Maka asked eagerly. He glanced back at her and turned to her, holding no box this time. The rabbit slightly grinned and Maka’s questioning, as if she were a little, curious child.  


“This is the Tea Factory in Kishin City,” he answered with a hand in his pocket and another hand waving around at the building and all its barely-lit glory.  


She said slowly, “Is it…another place in Wonderland?”  


“Nailed it,” the rabbit replied.  


“And what’s with all the tea?” she suddenly asked. The rabbit sighed and pointed a thumb at a poster of a black snake entangled in a gold crown on the wall.  


“The ruler of Kishin City, Queen Medusa, makes everyone make tea for her,” he answered. His ears perked up, and he held out his hand, “I’m Soul, by the way.”  


Maka smiled and took his hand, “I’m Maka.”  


They let go and Maka put a hand to her chin.  


“So, is it for economic reasons?” she asked.  


Soul snorted a laugh.  


“Heh. Economic reasons…” he chuckled. Soul sighed and looked back at her, “This is Wonderland. We don’t need to worry about the economy.”  


Soul sighed again then continued unpacking the tea. Maka watched him for a moment and did the same. He didn’t object, so she figured it must have been what she was supposed to do.  


“Yeah, she has us all make this stuff, as if she ever drinks any of it,” he said, muttering the last part to himself. Soul cleared his throat before continuing, “She’s even taken people from other parts of Wonderland and made them work here.”  


He nodded towards the people on the other side of the conveyor belt, further in the darkness. There was a girl wearing a strange, orange hat over her long, light blue hair and she had on a black dress with white polka dots and a much smaller girl wearing a black, mouse hat over her short pink hair and wore a black and white striped cloak that covered her feet and neck.  
“Gekko,” Eruka croaked sadly, “I miss home.”  


“Chi, chi, chi,” Mizune squeaked in agreement. Eruka walked away with a box and Mizune followed after her. They continued to unpack silently for a few seconds when Maka looked back at Soul.  


“So…haven’t you guys ever tried to rebel?” Maka asked. Soul stiffened and quickly covered her mouth. He had a finger over his mouth and was staring intently at the poster over his shoulder.  


“Shhh, don’t say that,” he quietly said through clenched teeth.  


Maka asked a muffled, “Why?” under his palm.  


“She has eyes and ears all over the place,” as he whispered, he pointed at his own eyes and ears to indicate what he was saying. He let go of her mouth and pointed at her neck, “See that snake wrapped around your neck?”  


Maka gasped and looked down. She saw a cold, black, inanimate snake lightly wrapped around her neck like a necklace, “O-oh…when did that get there?”  


“Well, if Medusa hears anything about rebellion or someone going against her she can make the snake slip inside the person and tear them apart from the inside—” Soul added and snapped his fingers, “—with a snap of her fingers.”  


Maka stiffened. She made the motion of zipping her lips shut and throwing the zipper away. Soul simply nodded in agreement. The two were about to continue working but the front door opened, glowing with pale light. The figures that entered were the red-haired man and the wolf-like man, who no longer had a leash. The wolf-like man spotted Maka and walked over to her and Soul.  


“There you are,” he gruffly growled and grabbed Maka’s arm tightly with his large hands. She cried out in pain and tried to move away.  


“Now, don’t be so harsh on such a poor, little girl,” his red-haired partner said behind the wolf man. The wolf’s grip loosened, and he turned to the dog.  


“But being late for work is a strict law around here,” he argued.  


“Yo, Free,” Soul calmly called out, head lowered and red eyes, half-lidded, “lay off a little would ya’? She didn’t have a clue where she was going and was pretty lost when I met her. So, she probably didn’t mean to be late.”  


The officers glowered at him.  


“Hey, that’s Officer Free and Spirit to you,” Spirit scowled. Soul glared.  


“Wasn’t talkin’ to ya’, Gramps,” Soul shot back.  


Spirit stiffened and recoiled back behind Free. Free grinned and shoved Maka into Soul. He caught Maka but was slightly slammed against the conveyor belt. He let go of Maka and brushed his suit off. Free grabbed his ear.  


“ _Ahhhhhh,_ ” Soul groaned painfully and his eyes watered. He started to flail his arms around and tried to pry to large fingers off of his ear, “Free! Let-go-of-my-ear! Thaaaat hurrrrts.”  


Free pulled Soul towards his grinning snout and spoke in a low voice, “Alright then, Rabbit Boy, you’re assigned with the new girl.”  


He let go of Soul, who stumbled back and nearly crashed into Maka. He gripped his ear then what Free said came to him, like a whap to the face.  


“Whaaat?! You’re making me go out there again? I just got back!” he yelled.  


Free nearly laughed but only continued to grin.  


“It’s just policy of Her Majesty. All new recruits go with a senior worker. You know, show her around,” Free grinned wider and started back to the door. Spirit gave Soul an untrusting look. He would have preferred to be assigned with the girl then have her with a trouble-maker like Soul. Free snapped, “Come on, Spirit!”  


Spirit jumped and hurried after him.  


Soul nursed his ear for a moment with one eye closed as he quietly moaned. Maka turned back to him and he sighed unhappily, “Come on.”  


He turned and led her to the red orange door. He opened the door and they started to walk down a dark stairway.  


“Who were those guys?” Maka asked over his shoulder. He didn’t look over at her but answered.  


“The Guard Dogs of Kishin City,” Soul explained, “Free Werewolf. He’s one of Queen Medusa’s most trusted guards. Strong, powerful sense of smell, can track people, and is pretty ruthless, occasionally likes to mess with people—”  


Soul noted the last one to his stinging ear and finished, “Yeah, I can see why she likes him so much. Sadists.”  


“What about the other one?” Maka asked, “And how long is this stairway?!”  


“Relax, we’re almost at the end,” Soul assured. Maka looked over his shoulder.  


“I don’t see it,” she argued. He rolled his eyes.  


“Well, Gramps is another one of Medusa’s more trusted guards, Officer Spirit Dog. He was once one of the most trusted friends of the former ruler of Kishin City, the Grim Reaper, when it was called Death City,” Soul explained.  


“The Grim Reaper was the former ruler?” Maka asked skeptically.  


“Yeah, trust me, a reaper is way better than a witch,” Soul answered. They were silent for a moment as Maka pondered something.  


“So, why is Spirit one of Medusa’s trusted guards if he was a good friend of the former ruler?” she asked.  


“Oh, well. Gramps knows a lot of people in Kishin City, mainly women. Hey, we’re at the end of the stairs,” he stopped as they climbed off of the stairs and into a dark, blue shadows corridor with no doors, lit by an unseen light. The hall shortly turned to the left so all that was seen from the stairway were two rooms in the corner. Soul continued, “He must have met most of them in their beds or something. He’s a perverted womanizer.”  


“Gross,” Maka frowned with disgust. They started to walk towards one of the rooms, straight ahead of them and Maka noticed something, “Hey, Soul. Did you know how ironic it sounds when you put Free and Spirit’s names together?”  


Soul let it sink in for a moment then he laughed, “Yeah. Heh…I see what you mean. Never noticed that.”  


Maka smiled and giggled, “It’s even funnier considering the fact they’re a dictator’s head officers.”  


Soul snickered with her. They stopped outside of the doorway of the room and Soul looked inside the blue, stone room with washing machines and piles of dirty, white bags.  


“Great,” he sighed, “We’ll have to go to the old storage room.”  


He left the room and started down the turn in the hall which was darker and most of the hall was concealed in blackness. Maka groaned and unhappily followed after him.  


“How much longer do we have to walk? My feet are getting sore,” she whined.  


“Well then, take off your shoes. It should ease your feet a little,” Soul suggested.  


“What? No! These floors are filthy. There are even rats,” she mentioned the white mouse that was running across the hall. It suddenly stopped and started angrily squeaking at Maka.  


Soul quickly tried calming it down, “Uh, sorry, Mizune. She didn’t know. She’s still new.”  


Maka blinked in surprise. Mizune stopped squeaking but still had an angry look in her eye then continued across the hall. Soul turned back to Maka, who was a little guilty.  


“Sorry…” she apologized but he shrugged it off.  


“Eh, it’s fine. People’ll make that mistake. You know, both Eruka and Mizune are actually able to turn into frogs and mice. It can be useful,” Soul said.  


“Huh, it’s sounds useful,” Maka agreed. As a little animal, you could eavesdrop easily. They walked past a few rooms then entered into another dark room but it was a few black piles of bags, and a couple of clothes racks. As Soul searched through a pile by the door, Maka stood behind him. She noticed a red chest in the back of the room.  


“Here it is,” he pulled out two white sacks and handed one to Maka. She took it and glanced at the chest. There was a skull shape on top of it.  


“Hey, Soul…what’s that?” she asked pointing at the chest.  


“Hm? Oh. That? Well, Gramps told me that when the Queen took over Death City and overthrew the Grim Reaper, she locked something in that chest that could defeat her,” Soul explained and had a bit of a sorrowful look in his eye, “we tried to unlock it countless times. We took all the keys in Kishin City but none worked. Some people from other places in Wonderland even purposely got captured and sent here to try out keys from their lands. Those didn’t work either. Not even the best lock picks in all of Wonderland could open it.”  


Maka looked back at him, “Have you tried to force it open?”  


Soul shook his head, “No. We didn’t want to risk destroying whatever’s inside.”  


Maka looked down for a moment then she gasped in realization. Soul’s ears twitched as he watched her reach into her apron pocket. She pulled out the blue key and held it gently in her hand.  


“What’s that?” he asked. She looked back at him.  


“Oh, well…this key worked on every locked door I’ve used it on,” she explained and looked over at the chest, “maybe we can try it on that chest.”  


Soul’s ears droop slightly, and he looked doubtful. Even so, Maka set down her sack and walked over to it. She knelt down, and Soul joined her by her side. She tried to stick the key in the key hole but it abruptly stopped just barely in the keyhole. Maka started to push the key in but it didn’t budge. She then started to use her other hand and felt it move farther in a little. Soul raised an eyebrow as she watched her struggle.  


“You sure that’ll work?” he asked. She continued to push the key and gritted her teeth.  


“ _Yes_ —the lock is just— _stuck,_ ” she answered through her gritted teeth. Soul watched her for a moment before getting on his knees by her. He placed his hands over hers and helped her push. As the two tried to force the key in the lock, it started to slowly move inside the keyhole. Soul’s ears raised in realization. He then continued pushing with more determination.  


Finally, the key suddenly clicked into the keyhole. Soul and Maka snapped forward and hit their heads on the chest. They groaned. He looked up with a half-conscious look then his ears rose in realization again and he lifted his hands. Maka had her hands to her head, so he could see the key jutting out of the keyhole. She took her hands off of her head and looked at it, too.  


“Will it…” Soul tried to ask but he was in too much shock. Maka went to answer his question and grabbed the key. She turned it with a click and the two quietly gasped. Maka started to lift the heavy chest top and Soul helped her. With a groan, it opened and the two leaned over the open chest, “It’s a…”  


Soul sat back and Maka pulled out a yellow scythe. On the handle of the scythe was a yellow color and parts of the handle were bit off showing the white pole underneath. Maka marveled at the design and glanced at the blade, it was large and razor thin with a blue tint.  


“…makes sense. The former ruler was the Grim Reaper, after all,” Soul shrugged and got up. He turned back to Maka with a doubtful look again, “So, are you supposed to fight Medusa head on with that thing? It seems reckless.”  


Maka smiled and got up, “Maybe…but I’ll still try.”  


Soul looked taken aback and worriedly watched as she started to picked up her sack.  


“R-really? You’d honestly do that?” he asked. She slipped the scythe into the sack, slung over her back and looked back at him with a confident giggle. Soul relaxed and closed his gaping mouth with a sigh. He then picked up his sack and slung it over his shoulders, “Alright, but first, let’s get delivery over with. If you’re gonna take down the Queen, you’re not gonna do it anytime soon and without a plan.”  


Maka agreed. They started to walk out of the room, and Soul gave the chest a worried glance before leaving with Maka.  


***~~~  


Maka and Soul walked down the grey streets of Kishin City, and the clouds were starting to clear. Maka realized it was because they approached the outskirts of the city where the sun shone on the green valley around Kishin City. Soul stiffened as he realized something. Down the road at the black gates separating the city from the valley, Spirit and Free stood guard. Soul grimaced and leaned over to Maka.  


“I completely forgot!” he whispered. Maka glanced at him, and he tilted his head towards Free and Spirit, “I don’t know how you’re going to sneak that scythe by Free. He’ll sniff it out for sure.”  


They stopped behind a building with a tiny waterwheel with no water creaking on its roof. Maka glanced around the corner at Free and Spirit, who seemed to be arguing about hats. Despite this, Free still seemed very focused and alert.  


“Is there any way to go around them?” Maka asked.  


Soul answered, “No, that’s the only way out of the city. And even if did find another way, it’d look suspicious since they’re expecting us to pass through to make a delivery. I don’t know how we’ll get through with the scyth _ahhhh_ —”  


Soul’s sentence devolved as a womanly hand reached from behind him and traced a finely, pedicured finger across his chest. A woman with purple hair and a matching, scanty outfit nestled up behind him. She whispered in his ear, which she held up with her pinched fingers, “I thought I smelled something good. How’s about some rabbit stew, as in a hot bath with me and you?”  


Soul couldn’t formulate any intelligible noises. His face was hot and about as red as his eyes. The woman giggled and seemed to think this was cute.  


Maka huffed, “Excuse me? We were in the middle of a conversation.”  


The woman seemed coyly annoyed at first, but her face brightened upon seeing Maka. The former straightened and greeted, “Heyyy!~ You’re that girl that freed me!”  


Before Maka could say anything, the woman drew her into a hug, thanking her, “Oh, you don’t know how much you helped me out! I wish I could pay you back for that!”  


Muffled, Maka asked, “Helped? But I’ve never met you before.”  


The woman pulled away and said, “But I’m Blair! The cute cat that you helped!” She balled up her hand like a paw, which she rubbed against her cheek with a cat-like wink, “See?”  


Indeed, now Maka could see the cat ears poking out of her hair, and she recognized those yellow eyes. Maka responded, “Oh, well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Maka. And that’s Soul.”  


“We’ve met,” Soul muttered, straightening his suit in an attempt to readjust himself. He cleared his throat and addressed Blair, “Haven’t heard of you in a while. I thought you skipped town and snuck out again.”  


“You can sneak out of town?” Maka asked, “Would you sneak us out?”  


Blair answered sadly, “I would, but it wouldn’t be possible if you aren’t a cat like me. Us cats are very sneaky, you know.”  


Seeming to remember something, Blair huffed, “Oh! But then that rotten mutt Free put a bell collar on me. I couldn’t sneak around anywhere without getting caught! Then he tied me up somewhere so I wouldn’t get in the way, and he didn’t even use the fun kind of string.” As she spoke, Blair sadly rubbed her face with her balled-up hand.  


“He probably wanted to keep you out of the way so you weren’t such a distraction to Gram—” Soul started but cut himself off.  


He grinned, showing off his set of sharp teeth. Soul said, “Blair, I think I know how you can pay back Maka.”  


“Isn’t that for me to decide?” Maka responded, indignant.  


“Wouldn’t you want her to go distract Spirit for us so we can sneak past Free?” Soul asked coyly.  


“Oh!” Maka realized, “That would be perfect!”  


Blair clapped excitedly, “Oo! As in Officer Spirit? Hehe, it’s been too long since we’ve played. I’ll do it and my debt will be repaid!”  


Meanwhile, Spirit stood on the left side of the gate and Free stood on the opposite side. Spirits ears perked at the sound of footsteps as he noticed Maka and Soul approaching, “Ah, it’s the poor girl and that rotten rabbit.”  


“Took ‘em long enough to get ready,” Free grumbled. He paused, nose twitching. The wolfman said, “You smell that?”  


Spirit sniffed too, answering, “Yes…it smells like—”  


“Yoo-hoo~ Oh, mister doggie officer!” Blair called from the side.  


“—cat!” Free finished with a growl.  


Blair has laid herself out on the roof of a coffee shop. She sat above the sign, which had a beckoning woman with snakes wrapping her head. The cat woman met Spirit’s gaze and winked.  


The dog man made an exuberant noise, tongue hanging out and his tail wagging.  


Free barked angrily, “I don’t know how you got out, feline, but you still got time to serve for all your trespassing charges!”  


Blair made a playfully sad sigh and said, “I got so bored during my capture. I didn’t want to serve anymore. But maybe I’d be more willing if I had someone to play with. Hey, doggie officer, what you say? Want to play with me?”  


“Do I?” Spirit exclaimed and seemed prepared to leap onto the roof with her.  


However, Free grabbed Spirit and shouted at Blair, “Keep this up and I’m adding ‘aggravating an officer’ to your charges!”  


“Oh, she’s not aggravating me,” Spirit insisted, trying to push past Free.  


“Well, she’s aggravating _me,_ ” Free growled, still wrestling with Spirit. He barked to him, “Stay at your post!”  


All the while, Soul and Maka approached, with Soul using his hand to block his view of Blair. They stopped in front of Free and Spirit, who stood in the way of the gate.  


Soul called out, “Hey. You lettin’ us go to deliver the tea or what?”  


“What?” Free just then noticed them, busy with trying to restrain Spirit. The wolfman growled, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Get outta here.”  


“With pleasure,” Spirit answered.  


“Not you!”  


Soul grabbed Maka by her wrist and hurried them through the gate. Maka heard Soul mutter in a strained voice, “It took every ounce of my will to resist my instinct to look.”  


“You sound just as perverted as Spirit,” Maka grumbled. She added, “And what instincts? You’re a rabbit!”  


Finally letting go of her, Soul scoffed, recovering himself, “You wouldn’t understand.”  


All the while, Free paused and looked over his shoulder, watching them go, and his tail flicked.  


As soon as the rabbit and girl went from her sight, Blair straightened and turned her back to the officers, calling, “Well, maybe we can play some other time. But if you ever want to meet again, just give me a cat-call~”  


Blair then hopped to a different roof and slid out of the officers’ view.  


Spirit tried to follow Blair, but Free grabbed his shoulder and growled, “Where do you think you’re going?”  


The sky was completely clear outside of the city, and it appeared as they Soul and Maka followed the dirt road on the green valley away from the city. Soul looked back and saw the officers made no move to follow them, nor were paying any attention them.

“I can’t believe that worked,” Soul murmured.  


Blair chirped from nearby, “Of course it did, silly rabbit.”  


Soul stiffened. He and Maka were hesitant to look in her direction but, to Soul’s relief and Maka’s surprise, a purple cat sat on a signpost. Maka could better see Blair’s face in the cat’s face, or perhaps it was the cat’s face in Blair’s face? The sign she sat on said ‘Wonderland’ but it was upside-down so it looked like it started with an M. Maka realized that someone would have purposely carved the letters in like that.  


Licking her paw, Blair stated, “This should pay back my debt to you.”  


“The help was much appreciated,” Maka thanked.  


Blair stood and looked over her shoulder at them. She stated, “Have fun on your quest! Be careful though, there’s dangerous things out there. And I’ll see you again, rabbit boy~”  
Soul adjusted his collar.  


Maka asked, “Where will you go?”  


“Wherever I want, silly,” Blair answered before she scampered off. The cat disappeared without a trace.  


Maka blinked, but then smiled. She pulled out the scythe and took out of the sack. She managed to slip the scythe through the apron straps tied around her back and she pulled the sack over it. Maka looked back at Soul and smiled. Soul blinked then replied with his sharp-teethed grin.  


They continued down the dirt road and approached a four-way intersection in the dirt paths. A tall, wooden street sign was on the corner intersecting the path on the right and the path ahead. Maka approached it and Soul followed a few steps behind, his ears twitching. Maka tried to read the sign while Soul looked back and forth then he grinned. He grabbed Maka’s arm and lead them a few steps forward, off of the path. Maka blinked in confusion and Soul continued to smile.  


“Ya-hoo!” a voice echoed in the air. Suddenly, a large cart zoomed past them on the path. Maka looked over her shoulder, staring at the huge cloud of dust trailing behind in shock.  


“Yo! Hey, Black Star!” Soul called out waving. The wooden cart suddenly stopped and a blue-haired boy looked over from the front. He was wearing a short-sleeved, black shirt with a tall collar, black boots and a blue star-shaped flower was pinned to his loose, white pants. Soul walked over to the boy and Maka stayed where she was, bewildered.  


“Hey! Soul! Pal!” the shrill boy’s voice called in joy. Maka observed the cart. It was designed to be pulled by horses. It had large wooden wheels, a few stacks of hay in it, and a tall girl sat on the edge. The girl looked a little older than Maka. She had long black hair in a tight ponytail, wore a white, long sleeve dress and there was a red flower pinned to her chest. Maka waved hello. She noticed Maka and politely waved back.  


Soul appeared from the front of the cart and greeted the girl, “Hey, Tsubaki.”  


She nodded in greeting with a small smile, “Hello, Soul.”  


“You mind if we take a lift? We’re on a tea delivery,” Soul asked.  


“Sure! Hop on!” the boy at the front of the cart overheard and answered loudly. Soul chuckled and got on, helping Maka up. Suddenly, the cart started moving again as the blue-haired boy managed to pull it with no sweat.  


They all sat quietly for a minute when the girl cleared her throat and Soul caught it realizing he forgot the introductions.  


“Heh, this is Maka. She’s new and I was assigned to take her on a delivery with me,” Soul explained.  


“It’s nice to meet you,” Maka greeted, and they shook hands.  


“And this is Tsubaki. The powerhouse pulling the cart is Black Star,” Soul continued. Tsubaki had a basket by her side and she pulled out three cups and a pot of fresh tea. She poured the tea with no trouble despite the moving cart on the dirt road. She handed Soul and Maka cups and gave one to herself. Soul continued, “They’re also deliverers but not for Kishin City—”  


He stopped to take a sip, and Maka tried to as well. But the cart suddenly hit a rock, and Maka spilled tea onto her face. Soul laughed Tsubaki quickly pulled out a napkin and helped wipe the tea off.  


“Ha, ha! You gotta be careful of that,” Soul warned, smiling. The cart jumped again, he easily kept the tea in the cup then dumped the rest in his mouth. When Tsubaki wiped the tea off Maka’s face, Maka glared at him. Soul laughed again and continued, “Yeah, Black Star and Tsubaki are actually flowers.”  


Soul got up and pointed to a large, thick, jungle-like forest, “They’re from the Singing Forest right over there!”  


He sat back down, cross-legged, “It’s ruled by Arachne, one of Queen Medusa’s enemies, but me, Tsubaki and Black Star are still good friends and they still give me lifts over there.  


“Tsubaki’s a Camellia Flower,” he pointed a finger, which still held the tea cup, at the flower pinned on her chest then he pointed a thumb at Black Star, “and Black Star…well, he’s his own flower.”  


“We deliver flowers from the Singing Forest and other parts of Wonderland to maintain biodiversity in forests,” Tsubaki explained, “we’re like the Plant Express.”  


Maka managed to slip what tea she hadn’t spilled on herself. Tsubaki was going to pour more tea for herself but something glinted in the sunlight behind Maka’s shoulder. She glanced at it and saw the scythe blade. Tsubaki stared at it for a moment and smiled softly.  


**~~  


Black Star stopped right by the Singing Forest. The trees were tall, thick and blue. No sunlight entered through the thick canopy and a dirt path made its way through the trees, huge bushes and unusually-shaped flowers, many of which Maka thought looked like instruments. One appeared to be a saxophone.  


“The Singing Forest?” Maka asked. Soul jumped off of the cart and held the straps of the sack over his shoulders.  


“Yeah, we have to go to the Tea Gardens to pick up the tea and take it back to Kishin City,” Soul explained and Maka jumped off of the cart, beside him. He looked over to Tsubaki and waved, “See ya’, Tsubaki.”  


“Bye, Soul. Bye, Maka,” she said with a smile. Tsubaki added, “and good luck defeating Medusa.”  


Soul and Maka both stiffened.  


Tsubaki looked over her shoulder at Black Star and signaled, “Okay, Black Star, we’re ready to go.”  


She gave Soul and Maka one last smile.  


“Alright! Ya-hoo! Let’s go!” he yelled and started to pull the cart back down the dirt road. In the distance, he yelled while waving with one hand, “Byyyyeee Souuulll!”  


Soul grinned and looked over at Maka. He said, “Don’t worry. We can trust Tsubaki. Now, come on.”  


Soul started down the dark path, and Maka followed him, toying with the bag hiding the scythe.


	2. Chapter 2

Deeper in the Singing Forest, everything was dark because of the tall, thick trees being close together. However, Soul easily led the way and they walked past glowing mushrooms. Maka could make out more instrument-shaped flowers and even fruits. Despite it being the Singing Forest, Maka barely heard a thing since they entered. There seemed to be nothing other than her and Soul’s footsteps and the rustling bushes they past.

Soul’s ears twitched. He gritted his teeth and suddenly grabbed Maka’s wrist, breaking into a run.

“Hurry!” he snapped.

Maka was going to ask why but heard a loud buzzing. They neared a clearing, where the sun was still blocked out by branches and leaves overhead. Maka looked over her shoulder.

She saw a man half her size, wearing a black top hat and suit. He had a pointed nose, grey moustache and red eyes. Also, this man was floating in the air with large bug wings and bug-like arms and legs. The mosquito landed on a branch on the large tree.

“Ah, what’s this?” he asked in a sophisticated and amused tone. His long nose twitched, “A couple of Medusa’s Tea Deliverers?”

Soul skidded to a stop, and Maka stopped behind him.

A loud, metallic buzzing filled the air. The branches of low trees on the hill on their right were sliced off by a chainsaw, creating an opening for a man twice as tall as Soul and Maka. He wore a wool hat over his orange hair, a nose piece, silver earrings, brown overalls, and a long sleeve blue, plaid shirt. He had sharp teeth, a tired look to his orange eyes and held a large chainsaw.

“Doesn’t matter who they are as long they’re Medusa’s, right?” the lumberjack said in a tired and slightly slurred voice.

Soul was panicking. He glanced at the mosquito, who grinned with sharp fangs, then looked back at the lumberjack, who was about to start up the engine again. Soul’s ears twitched and something unsheathed behind him. Without a word, Maka pulled out the scythe, spun it in her hands and stopped it tightly in her grasp. She had a serious, fear-less look in her green eyes. Soul turned to her, still panicked.

“Maka. You’re-” he tried to speak.

The lumberjack watched and smiled with an interested look in his eye.

“Huh, that again…” he trailed off then he slid down the hill with his chainsaw lifted and lifeless. His eyes were wide, and he yelled, “Well, let’s see how well you can wield that thing!”

Maka stepped between Soul and the lumberjack, spinning the scythe above her head. The lumberjack brought down the chainsaw and Maka blocked the attack above her head, almost collapsing from the force. She held her ground. Soul stood, surprised, then his head shot back to the mosquito, who had lifted into the air and shot towards Maka.

Soul quickly ran to a patch of tall flowers and plucked one that looked like a yellow tulip. He slid between Maka and the mosquito with the flower pointed towards the bug. Before the mosquito could change direction, his nose dug into the flower and halted. Soul grinned and his red eyes gleamed. The mosquito accidentally sucked in the nectar, stinging his nose, and he shut his watering eyes. He coughed out a cloud of pollen and hurriedly flew off, wheezing violently. The rabbit looked back at Maka, who struggled to hold up the chainsaw.

“Ha, ha. How much longer can you keep this up?” The lumberjack grinned and started the engine. The machine burst to life and sparks flew with metal scraping against metal. Soul cringed at the sound and Maka was jerked back by the force. She struggled even more and groaned through her gritted teeth. Soul caught that noise past the screeching metal and his look hardened.

He looked over at the trees up the hill and quickly hurriedly over to them. When Soul mentioned the cut off arms to the trees, suddenly, whip-like branches lashed out at the lumberjack and wrapped around the man’s waist.

The lumberjack was caught off guard as he was suddenly lifted in the air. Maka looked up, just as surprised as he was, but Soul skidded down the hill to her side. He grabbed her wrist and led her to an opening.

The opening was made because a small river split through the forest and showed that the sun was setting outside. Stepping stones led across the river and back into a dark forest trail. Soul ran across the stepping stones with Maka hurrying after him as he still held on to her wrist. They crossed the river and slowed down when they were back in the shade. Soul let go of Maka, and she put the scythe back in her apron strap. Soul adjusted the bag straps over his shoulders, and they kept walking. Maka looped her hands behind her back.

“Hey, Soul,” Maka asked, “how did you know what to do with those plants?”

“Heh, Tsubaki told about some of the plants in the forest. It was always useful for getting through here,” Soul answered.

“And who were those guys that attacked us?”

Soul’s smile disappeared.

“Mosquito and Giriko, loyal subjects to Arachne, Mother of all Spiders and Ruler of the Singing Forest. She’s Queen Medusa’s older sister. Gramps told me that Arachne was around even when the Grim Reaper ruled Death City. The Grim Reaper hunted her because she tormented flowers, like Black Star and Tsubaki, with her spiders and she escaped here and took it over. When Medusa released…the Kishin and overthrew the Grim Reaper, she attacked Arachne and trapped her in her own web, so she can’t move,” Soul explained and had a cold look on his face, but Maka didn’t notice with his back to her.

“So, that explains why Giriko said, ‘That again,’ but…what’s the Kishin?” Maka wondered, innocently looking at Soul for answers.

“Eh, it’s not really good to dwell on the past. But, keep in mind,” he glanced at her with a wide red eye, “Insanity is contagious.”

He looked away and Maka stared at him, slightly unsettled. He sighed and scratched the back of his head.

“Oi, that reminds me of this saying in Kishin City,” he looked over at her and tapped the side of his head with his pointer finger, “Hell is in here.”

Maka raised an eyebrow and he turned away again. _Soul’s starting to act strange,_ she thought to herself. An orange glow appeared from down a hill, and Maka sniffed the air.

“Mmm, something smells nice,” she said as they slid down the hill.

“That would be the Tea Garden. We’re here,” Soul replied. There was a clearing in the large trees and it was lit by an orange glow.

“Welcome!” two voices greeted. There were two girls a head taller than both of them with their arms out in greeting. The girl on the left was the tallest, she wore a dark green top hat over her long, dark blonde hair, also wore a yellow suit jacket and pants with a red undershirt, white shoes and white gloves. She looked bored and tired. The other girl wore a red top hat over her short, bright blonde hair, with a dark green suit jacket and pants with a yellow undershirt, white shoes and white gloves. She was happy and overexcited. They both blinked at the same time and recognized Soul.

“Oh, hey, Soul,” the tired girl greeted and put a hand to her hip, “who’s she?”

“Newbie,” Soul answered. Maka was a little mad that Soul didn’t bother to say what her name was. So, Maka smiled and held out a hand.

“I’m Maka,” she greeted. Suddenly, the excitable girl took Maka’s hand with both of her hands and leaned in really close.

“Hey, you wanna join my tea party?” she asked childishly. Maka didn’t know how respond. The older girl sighed.

“Patty, we have work to do. They’re here to deliver tea,” she reminded the childish girl.

The girl, Patty, looked over to the older girl and let go of Maka.

“But the tea party’s still going,” Patty murmured childishly with innocent blue eyes. Suddenly, she walked over to a long, wooden red table with wooden, red chairs lined up beside it. Lights were hung over the table on the branches and a few stuffed animals were placed on the chairs by the end. Patty walked to the animals. There were tea cups and plates with chocolate cookies on them, “Do you like your tea, Giraffe? Oh, do you need more sugar, Mr. Piggy?”

“I don’t think that tea party has ever ended,” Soul chuckled.

The other girl sighed.

“No. Not really,” she smiled a little and held out a hand to Maka, “well, my name’s Liz and that was my sister, Patty. We harvest the tea that grows in those trees and pack it for Soul to take over to Kishin City.”

Liz pointed to the trees across the clearing that had dark red flower buds growing on them. She led them over to a black metal machine, with red wires and a small conveyor belt that zigzagged in, out and down the machine to the side. Soul took off his sack and laid it out in front of him. Maka watched him and repeated his movements. Liz turned on the machine and the conveyor belt started to move. Small piles of red powder moved down the belt and went in the machine. It came out in the small, brown tea bags, went back in the machine and came back out again in the white boxes. Liz took a box and handed it to Soul, who stacked them in his sack. She also handed Maka boxes one by one and Maka stacked them just like Soul.

“So, how did you and your sister end up harvesting tea?” Maka asked, as they continued the packing process.

“Well, you’ve heard of the Grim Reaper, right?” Liz asked.

“Yeah,” Maka answered.

“Me and Patty were good friends with his son,” Liz answered.

Maka blinked. A few boxes went by Maka and Soul scrambled after them. Maka recovered herself, continuing to stack, and she asked, “He has a son?

Liz sighed.

“Yeah, when Medusa took over, she trapped him and made me and Patty harvest tea,” Liz said unhappily.

Soul finished sacking his tea and Maka was finishing hers. As she bent down, Liz noticed the scythe on Maka’s back. Liz gaped and she shakily pointed a finger at it, “is th-that a scythe?”

Soul and Maka stiffened, glancing at each other. They looked at Liz and she had a huge smile. She suddenly was in front of Maka and placed her hands on her shoulders.

“Do you know what this means?” Liz asked excitedly and slightly shook Maka, who couldn’t reply as she was shook, “You can free the Grim Reaper and take down Medusa!”

Soul looked doubtful, “You sure?”

Liz let go of Maka and nodded, “Mm-hm. Medusa trapped the Grim Reaper under Kishin City and his son, Death the Kid, is the only one who can free him. He also has the means to weaken her. She locked Kid in a mansion guarded by the Kishin just outside of the Singing Forest.”

Liz pointed to the trail beyond Patty’s tea party, “Just go down there and follow the trail. It should lead you to the Kishin’s Mansion.”

Soul’s eyes widened and he started, “But leads right past—”

“Arachne,” Liz finished, “well, don’t worry. She’s still stuck to her web and can’t move. Just don’t listen to a thing she says and keep your distance.”

Soul glanced to Maka, murmuring, “Do you want to go through with this? This just makes it more dangerous than it already was.”

Without hardly hesitation, she answered, “Of course! Whatever this Kid can do sounds like it’d really help. Besides, we come this far, might as well keep going.”

“If you’re sure…”

Soul and Maka loaded the tea over their shoulders and started to walk towards the trail. Liz gave them a thumbs-up, and Patty waved good-bye.

“Good luck!” Liz shouted after them as they went deeper in the dark forest.

“Bye, bye!” Patty called, her voice sounding quieter as they continued.

The orange glow disappeared and everything was shaded in blue and black. The trees were black, twisted and deformed with a blue-leaved canopy. The farther they walked on the pale white path the more spider webs were tangled on the branches and bushes with small, black spiders crawling on them. Maka watched the spiders and shivered.

“Arachnophobia,” Soul suddenly murmured with his serious gaze staring ahead. Maka glanced at him, worriedly. Her tutor, Mr. Frankenstein, told her that arachnophobia meant a fear of eight-legged animals, or, in this case, spiders.

They approached a clearing and stopped. Maka nearly gasped but smoke hung in the air. In the center on the clearing was a very low, knee-high tree with the branches twisted into a ring with handfuls of leaves. A web was in the ring and a woman sat on the web. She was pale with dark, black hair that was held up in a small bundle on the back of her head with black bangs beside her dark blue eyes. She wore a black, shoulder-less dress with a web-designed neck, long, black sleeve that reached past her hands and the end of her dress was tied up to the web, immobilizing her legs inside. She held a long, red, smoking pipe in one of her hands and her other hand was also stuck to the web, by her side. She put the pipe to her black lips and blew out a small stream of smoke then lazily slid her eyes onto them with a small smile.

“Ah, a couple of Medusa’s Tea Deliverers. I hear you’re going to free the Grim Reaper,” she said casually and she also sounded amused, like she was watching someone play a game. Arachne continued, “That’s a bit difficult, don’t you think?”

Soul grinned and taunted, “What do you know about freeing the Grim Reaper? You’ve been stuck to this web since Medusa’s rule.”

Arachne closed her eyes, lowered her head and smiled, “Ah, but my cute, little children keep me informed of what goes on in Kishin City and the rest of Wonderland.”

Soul snorted and did laugh at her, crossing his arms, “Ha! I don’t see how that’s possible. It’s practically a law in Kishin City to kill any spider seen on the spot.”

“I have ways of getting information and staying informed,” she said and stared knowingly at Soul, “as does my sister.”

Soul’s smile wiped away, and he glared at her. Arachne slid her eyes from Soul and looked over at Maka.

“And you,” she whispered. Maka flinched. Arachne smiled, “you’re not from here. You seem very intent on helping everyone.”

Maka narrowed her eyes at her, “Of course. I want to help them.”

Arachne hid her mouth behind her hand and narrowed her eyes, “But this has nothing to do with you. It’s Wonderland. It’s nothing more than a dream. It doesn’t matter what you do, whether you win or lose.”

She pulled her hand away and smiled.

“No, it doesn’t matter at all. You can fail and it won’t affect you,” Arachne said, boring her gaze into Maka, “you could free me and it won’t affect you.”

Soul grabbed Maka’s hand and started to lead her past Arachne to the rest of the path, “Come on. Let’s hurry and get out of here.”

He added with a glare, “And away from this witch.”

Arachne smiled, looked away and smoked from her pipe again. As they kept walking, Maka saw a spider crawling on her arm, and she brushed it off. A soft rumbling started up behind them. They both glanced over and saw the spiders swarming after them. The two gasped and started running.

They hurried down the path and the swarms of spiders were only a few feet away. Soul glanced over his shoulder and swore then clenched his teeth. Maka just kept running.

“She must have known we’d be carrying twelve boxes of tea on our shoulders!” He yelled angrily. As an opening came into view, Soul and Maka slipped the sacks off their shoulders. Maka felt a few spiders crawl onto her leg but still took off the sack. The sacks fell off and squashed most of the spiders right behind them.

Soul and Maka broke out of the forest onto dark green grass under dark clouds. Maka quickly stopped and wiped the spiders off of her leg and under her heel. Soul placed his hands on his knees and caught his breath. He glanced back at the forest. No spiders followed. They must have been slowed down by the boxes of tea. He grinned and lightly chuckled. He was so dead when Medusa figured out he came back to Kishin City empty handed.

The wind blowing against them interrupted his thoughts and his grin disappeared. He and Maka both looked ahead of them. A lone dirt path led to a large, black and dark mansion head. The dark grey clouds seemed to gather above it. It had a metal, black gate surrounding the front of it, with a short path leading from the gates to the large front door on the porch. The mansion had a single, round window above the door, light brown, wooden walls, a dark brown tiled roof, large spikes protruded from the corners of the rectangular roof.

“That’s it?” Maka asked, unsheathing her scythe.

Soul nodded and his red eyes gleamed.

“Mm, the Kishin’s Mansion. Even though he’s powerful, he’s a coward. He hid here as soon as he defeated the Grim Reaper and Medusa trapped him. He told her to never show herself to him again. That was because he was scared of her and didn’t want anyone to bother him,” Soul answered, “I guess she managed to convince him to guard Death the Kid and then she’d keep her distance.”

“So, are we going to end up fighting him?” Maka wondered, tightening her grip on her scythe. Soul shook his head.

“No, as I said, he’s a coward. He wouldn’t guard Kid and he wouldn’t trust Medusa to keep her word. He’s probably locked himself deep under the house but that means he’s probably locked Kid up, too, so he wouldn’t get free either,” Soul guessed. Maka looked at him in awe.

“How can you tell?” Maka asked, dumbstruck.

He grinned and closed his eyes. Soul answered, “Heh, us rabbits are more observant than you think. We watch where we’re going and avoid any problems.”

Maka smiled back at him. He looked back at the mansion and his smile faded.

“However, we still have watch out for something,” he continued, “remember what I said, Insanity is Contagious? Well, the Kishin is just as mad as he is powerful and a coward. This insanity is going to try and keep us from the door for sure. We’ll need to be ready for that.”

Maka nodded and walked towards the gate. Soul’s ears twitched and he followed after her. She pushed the gate open and the wind picked up, pushing against them. Between them and the mansion door was a small graveyard with blank gravestones around the small path. Maka walked down the path with Soul trailing behind her but the wind picked up with each step. Maka felt like she was going to be blown away and her steps slowed. Soul also felt the same, except he felt a familiar presence. _Soul._

Soul ignored the voice and kept trying to move forward. Maka was slowly pushing forward and forced her feet to move against the wind. She glanced up and the clouds looked red with a huge silhouette towering behind the house. It was a pale skinned man wrapped in a strange cloth the matched his skin color in a mummy-like manner. He had a cloth tied over his eyes with three eyes drawn on it and a crooked smile. However, Maka looked back at the door and kept walking. _The insanity will try to keep us from getting to the door,_ she remembered Soul say. She wasn’t going to let the fear slow her down. She was going to let it make her move forward.

Soul tried to keep moving, as well. If he stood still, the wind would push him away, so he had to keep moving. _Soul._ Soul gritted his teeth. _Soul._ He glanced behind him. The graveyard was starting to be replaced by red and black tile, the path remained and so did the gate entrance but the surrounding gate around it was beginning to turn into black walls with red curtains. Soul looked back ahead and tried to keep walking. _Soul._ Soul growled and walked behind Maka. He pushed her forward with his hands behind her back. With her shielding him against the wind, he could help them both forward.

They finally reached the wooden, blue porch. Even as they stood in front of the large, dark brown, double doors, the wind still blew into the porch and tried to push them away. Soul tried to open the door but it was locked. The wind slid him back but he stopped himself against the support beam. Maka reached in her apron pocket and pulled out the key, gripping it tightly so it wouldn’t blow away. She tried to stick it in the lock but the wind was furiously pushing her away. Soul managed to get behind her and pushed Maka towards the door. Using both hands, she got the key in the keyhole and unlocked the door. Soul walked forward with Maka as she pushed the doors open. They nearly stumbled through the doorway with the wind suddenly disappearing.

Soul shut the doors behind him and leaned against the door with a sigh. Maka fixed her dress, and they both looked at the room around them. The floor was stone black tile, grey pillars held up balconies on either side of the room, dark grey walls, white ceiling and at the end of the room was a black statue. What Soul noticed is that everything is that everything seemed…perfect. Neat and clean. No dust or anything that seemed to stick out. _Strange,_ he thought.

Maka kept her key in her hand and walked over to the statue. Soul looked back at the door before following after her. The statue was a boy about Soul and Maka’s age, standing perfectly straight on a large black cube of stone that was taller than Maka. It was hard to make out his features or what he was wearing in the pale, black, stone. A stone wave of black was behind him as if a wave were about to crash into him from behind. Again, Soul noticed there was something…perfect about it. He couldn’t put his finger on what is was. He knew there was a word for it but he couldn’t remember and it frustrated him. Maka looked at the cube and saw a black metal plaque. Soul saw it, too and they both read it.

“Symmetry is Key  
Balance Dark and Light  
Symmetry is Key,”  
Maka read aloud. Underneath the plaque was a keyhole. Maka smiled and put the key in it. She turned the key but it abruptly stopped. She tried to turn it again but it wouldn’t unlock. Maka pulled the key out and stared quizzically. Soul read over the plaque and slapped his forehead.

“That was the word: Symmetry!” Soul thought aloud. Having that solved, he read over the plaque again then looked back at Maka. He looked back at the plaque with his hand to his chin, “Hmm…”

He looked around the room and at the statue. _The room…it’s in perfect symmetry,_ he thought. Then his ears perked up in realization. _The entire mansion is in perfect symmetry!_  
He looked back at Maka and spoke, “Now, I get it. You’re supposed to unlock it symmetrically.”

Maka looked up at him, even more confused. Her raised eyebrow and lost look told him to evaluate. Soul started to pace and waved his arms around.

“Look at this place! Do you notice how everything is symmetrical? It’s ridiculous! Even so, I think that’s what you’re supposed to do,” Soul explained.

Maka put a finger to her chin. Once she thought about it, when she saw the Kishin, even he was symmetrical and the graveyard was, too. She nodded and stood in front of the statue as perfectly as she could, holding the key with both hands. She inserted it in the lock and turned it but it didn’t turn all the way. Soul heard the unsatisfying clunk and yelled, “Oh, now what?!”

Maka pulled the key out staring at it in frustration. She looked back up the statue and read the plaque. _Symmetry, symmetry,_ she repeated in her head. _Balance the Dark with Light._ Maka blinked and turned to Soul.

“Why don’t we both try to put the key in at the same time and symmetrically?” Maka suddenly suggested. Soul shrugged and walked over to her right. They stood perfectly side by side and both held the key.

“If we have to both look symmetrical, it’s not even worth it, anymore,” Soul replied aggravated. Maka sighed.

They mirrored each other’s movements and took a step to the statue and inserted the key in the keyhole. They turned the lock and it clicked open. Their hands recoiled when it started to glow light blue. Straight lines shot up the cube from the key hole up to the statue. The top of the cube flashed and the stone body of the statue softened to pale skin and black clothes. The statue was a boy wearing black dance shoes, black tux pants, a matching, plain, black tuxedo jacket with a white under shirt that had a skull design. He had sleek, black hair with long bangs and three white lines on the left half of his hair. He opened his narrow, yellow eyes and looked down at Soul and Maka. They stared up at him and blinked. He frowned.

“What is this?!” he asked, outraged and jumped down from the platform, in front of them, perfectly. Maka and Soul blinked, again. The boy squinted at them, “I never expected to be freed by someone so…asymmetrical. I mean, look at you!”

Maka was speechless and thought, _is this…the Grim Reaper’s Son?_ Soul took it as an insult and glared at the guy.

The boy suddenly turned to Soul, which threw the rabbit off guard, and briefly observed him, “Hmm…your clothes seem symmetrical enough but your hair! And those ears—”

The boy grabbed Soul’s ears and made them straight, not noticing Soul’s red, burning glare. He let go of Soul’s ears and his right ear drooped like it always did. The living statue reached for Soul’s ears to fix them again but Soul slapped his hands away. He leaned in close to the statue and angrily pocked the skull on the boy’s chest.

“Don’t. Touch. The ears,” Soul threatened. The statue was a little surprised by this sudden movement but was intent on fixing Soul’s ears. However, Maka quietly spoke up.

“Um…so, are you Death the Kid?” she hesitantly asked.

“Why, yes. I am,” he held his hands behind his back and turned to her, looking momentarily professional. He looked at her and his unreadable, yellow eyes glinted. He was suddenly in front of her, causing her to flinch, and he had a hand to his chin as he directly looked at her face, “Hmm, you seem pretty symmetrical. Although, your bangs should be adjusted-”

His eyes fell to the scythe blade behind her shoulder, “Ah! A scythe! Ohh, that’s not a very symmetrical weapon. Especially, when-ah…wait. A scythe? Oh, that means that you’re here to help revive my father!”

“Yes, I’m Maka and this is Soul” she introduced them and felt very relieved. Soul crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. Kid cleared his throat and spoke.

“Ah, well, good. Nice to meet you. Now, I have already formulated a plan to free my honorable father,” he reached in his tux pocket and pulled out a small, green, bag, “I assume you two are from Kishin City and are Tea Deliverers? I recall that Medusa would have no other reason to allow her subjects to roam outside the city. Well, in this bag is poison. I need you to put the poison in Medusa’s tea. Now, it is, unfortunately, very unlikely to kill her but I assume it will weaken her for short period of time, however, that is not the main purpose of the poison. With it being found in her tea, she should assume it was fault of the Tea Harvesters-”

“Wait,” Soul interrupted, “if Medusa suspects that the Tea Harvesters, your friends, tried to poison her, don’t you think she’ll have them executed and Liz and Patty will be in danger?”

Kid shook his head, “No. I will have already taken Liz and Patty with me and arrange it so Arachne is to blame. If that’s successful, Medusa should direct her attention to attacking Arachne and allow me to easily free my father.”

Maka nodded and Soul just stared at Kid emotionlessly. Kid gave Maka the poison and she gripped it tightly with a confident smile. Soul and Maka headed for the door but they stopped by the closed doors and Maka looked back at Kid.

“Do you think you should come with us, so you can get Liz and Patty?” Maka asked. Kid had his back to them and observed the room around him with a hand to his chin.

“No…you may go on ahead. I will leave shortly, after I check to see if everything remained symmetrical while I was trapped,” he answered, not moving from where he was.

Maka sighed and went out the door with Soul. They were on the porch and he shut the door behind them. The wind stopped completely. With Kid free, the insanity in the area must have disappeared. Maka looked back down at the small bag in her hand as they walked down the path. She stared at it excitedly, excited that she was helping save a city, maybe even most of Wonderland. She didn’t notice that the other half of the graveyard, where the entrance was, was replaced by a red and black tiled, dark, wall-less room surrounded by endless blackness and dark red curtains with the blackness ahead of them.

She started to look up as she put the bag in her apron pocket with her key but a large red hand grabbed her arms. Maka gasped. A small, waist-high, red skinned demon had a hold of her. He wore a black suit with two rows of small silver buttons going down his chest. The demon had long arms, a hairless red head with crooked, white horns, red, cat ears, two large, white eyes, a pointed nose, a black mask around his eyes and a thin, wide, sharp-teethed smile. Maka tried to break from his grasp but it felt like an iron grip. He chuckled deviously and looked up at her with his gleaming yellow pupils.

“Ah, confident, weren’t you?” he tilted his head and spoke, amused.

Maka continued to struggle and looked over at Soul, who was silent. His head was lowered and turned away from her.

“Soul?” Maka called out. What was going on? The Demon chuckled again.

“Well, we have been waiting for the moment to stop you. Her Majesty shall be informed about this. We shall make sure of that. We always have,” the demon stated. He lightly bit his fingers with an insane laugh that he failed to contain. Maka panicked looked back and forth at Soul and the Demon.

“Soul? Soul!” Maka called out. Lost, confused, worried. Scared. Soul didn’t reply and turned away.

“We are the eyes and ears of Queen Medusa,” the Demon stated. Something veiled over Maka’s sight and she was engulfed in darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Vision returned as Maka opened her eyes. It was cloudy and Maka was no longer outside of the gothic mansion or spider-ruled forest. Her eyes fell to her lap, as she sat on a long, red carpet on thick green grass. She was in a garden, bush walls surrounded her. The red carpet disappeared into darkness between the thick, bush walls behind her and her hands were bound behind her back. Maka slid her gaze across the wall on her right, a small, red rose tree was by the wall and someone stood beside her—Soul, the White Rabbit. He stood up straight, his hands neatly behind his back and he stared ahead, not glancing at her.

She felt a pained twinge in her gut. Maka followed his gaze. Farther down the carpet was a brown, wooden throne chair with golden designs and a heart formed at the top. Black metal stands were alongside it and a small white table was set up by its left. Maka’s eyes widened.

Sitting on the throne was a woman wearing a black dress with short sleeves and a pulled down hood. The dress had a thin netting over the lower half with a large heart design in the center, the upper half was also black but tight and she was barefoot. A blonde braid hung against her chest and the rest of her short blonde hair slightly curled at the ends. A golden crown was atop her head and her narrow, yellow, slit eyes stared at Maka with a pleased smile.

“Looks like our little prisoner is awake,” Queen Medusa noted playfully.

_Those eyes…_ Maka recognized with a shudder. Medusa was laid out on the chair; her legs dangled over the chair arm, her back leaned against the other arm with her hand under her chin. Soul’s gaze wavered from Medusa, but he kept his eyes away from Maka.

“Well, I see that Death the Kid is free, and I’m surprised that someone could make it that far, however, thanks to my sources,” she made a small gesture to Soul, “I have sent someone to arrest the Tea Gatherers, but I shall tighten security in Kishin City, as well. The Grim Reaper shall not be revived and my rule shall continue.”

A bit of the area by Soul’s right darkened, and the grass turned into black and red tile with black darkness serving as walls. The Demon appeared on this little area and also faced the Queen. He and Soul both bowed with one of their hands over their chests and the other behind them.

“At your service, Your Majesty,” they said in unison. The Demon spoke in a more pleased voice while Soul sounded unconvincing. Maka looked at Soul and saw him gritting his teeth and he stared at the ground with burning red eyes.

Medusa nodded, satisfied and looked back at Maka.

“Now, since you plotted against me, freed the imprisoned, Grim Reaper’s son and planned to poison me, the penalty is death,” she stated and waved her finger. The snake around Maka’s throat slithered across her neck. Maka stiffened, and Soul tensed. However, Medusa lowered her finger and the snake stopped. She sighed and put a hand to her cheek, “But, I’ve gotten bored of killing my subjects in such a manner. Perhaps, I can do something else…like making you a personal servant to my child, Patrician Crona.”

There was a smaller dark brown, wooden throne chair with a small, red heart carved on the top and it was surrounded by a small, brown booth with red roses decorated on it. A slim figure sat on the chair wearing a black suit with a black jacket with white cuffs, red buttons, a white undershirt with a small red heart, black pants and black boots. The Patrician had a gold crown on top of messy pink hair, and the person’s large, tired black eyes stared uncomfortably at the ground. The Patrician glanced at Maka then looked away, tightly hugging a stuffed doll.

“I don’t know how to deal with girls,” the royal child murmured. Medusa lightly smiled and leaned to the Patrician.

“That’s why I’ll make her your servant and if you don’t like her, you can always get rid of her,” Medusa whispered comfortingly. Crona looked back at the ground, hugging the bear closer and nodded, chin rubbing against the bear’s head. Medusa leaned back in her chair and motioned her hand commandingly, “Free, take the girl to Crona’s room.”

Maka didn’t realize that Free and Spirit were on either side on Medusa and Crona. Free, who was by Crona’s side, picked up Maka from behind with both of his large hands and lifted her off the ground. Maka struggled to break free from his grasp with no prevail. He walked towards a black, metal door that was on the left that lead to dark stairs below. Maka panicked and looked back at Soul, lowered his head and his eyes were veiled by his bangs. Free took Maka through the metal door, which shut behind him. Medusa looked back at Soul. She sighed and sat up in her chair.

“Ah, now that that’s over with, let’s move on to the next matter,” she placed her elbows on the armrests and settled her chin on her intertwined fingers, “I can understand why you didn’t stop the girl until you did, but the lost delivery of tea at the Singing Forest will not be tolerated without consequences.”

Soul looked up at Medusa. His red eyes swirled with a powerful rage. He snorted and turned away with his arms crossed.

“It’s not like it matters if the delivery was lost. You already have more tea than you can drink,” Soul argued. Spirit, who was by Medusa’s side, shot a glare at Soul, and Crona stiffened with a panicked look. Medusa frowned and stared down at Soul.

“Soul, I advise you not to use such a tone with your queen or—” she began.

“Or what?” Soul cut off and spread out his arms angrily, “you’ll punish me? Give me the death sentence? Yeah, right! You wouldn’t kill you’re little ‘spy’ because I’m the only thing that’ll keep you from being attacked by a rebellion!”

“Understand this! I may not be able to kill you but I can make you miserable. I’ll double your deliveries, increase the amount you have to carry and cut the deadlines in half. So, the more you’re late, the more work you get,” she threatened and leaned forward.

“So what! I’ve would’ve been delivering this stupid tea for my entire life, anyways!” Soul yelled and took a step forward.

“ _Silence!_ ” Medusa yelled. Her eyes were large, yellow slits and she was hissing in anger. Soul froze and unable to speak. Medusa continued to hiss and clawed at the arm rests, “Report to the music room and wait until I call you again.”

Soul clenched his fist and lowered his head.

“Yes…Your Majesty,” he replied through gritted teeth and stomped over to the metal door. Medusa leaned back in her throne chair and her hisses subsided.

**~~

Free walked around the tall, dark halls with Maka still in his clutches. She was tired and sore from Free’s strong grip. _We’ve been walking around for hours and going in circles,_ Maka sighed in her head. _I hope I’m not lost with this guy._

He stopped at an intersection with a blank face. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Free also realized that they’ve been aimlessly walking around. He lifted his head and sniffed the air. He caught a familiar scent and looked over at a cracked open door on their right.

“Ah, there it is,” he said aloud. Maka frowned in tired amazement. _Could anyone be this dull?_ She wondered. Free set her down outside of the door and pushed it open. He untied her and called out without moving from outside of the doorway, “here’s Your Majesty’s servant.”

He pushed Maka in and she stumbled inside with Free shutting the door behind her. The floor was soft, white carpet, the walls were pale pink and white with no outline. A soft bed with dark pink covers was on her right and there was a pile of stuffed animals by it. _This doesn’t seem like the room of an evil Queen’s child,_ Maka thought.

“You’re my new servant, right?” a quiet, uncomfortable voice called out on her left. Maka looked over and saw a small white table in the center of the room with a white tea pot, two tea cups, two small plates and a cup of sugar cubs. Crona was sitting at one end, facing her. A strange black stuffed doll sat in the corner, staring with button-eyes. The Patrician slowly glanced at Maka and remained uneasy, mumbling, “I’m Crona.”

_This doesn’t seem like the behavior of an evil Queen’s child either,_ Maka noted. Hope flickered in her heart.

Maka gave a small curtsy, “Hello, Your Majesty. I’m Maka.”

Crona looked away and slightly blushed, “I don’t know how to deal with girls. That’s why Mother made you my servant, so I could learn how to deal with girls and how to deal with a servant for when I take up the throne…but I don’t know how to rule a kingdom. You’re supposed to help me learn how to deal with things. If I can’t handle having you around and you can’t help me, Mother said I could feed you to Ragnarok.”

Crona motioned to the black, large, four-legged stuffed doll with a round, black head, a white X across its face, white eyes with black X’s and a large mouth with white teeth. Maka could swear the doll grinned at her. She shivered and glanced back at Crona. The Patrician looked down at the tea set.

“Whenever we have tea, I never know what to say to the person serving it,” Crona explained and shifted uncomfortably. Maka nodded and slowly walked over to the table. She carefully sat down across from Crona. Maka pondered for a moment and spoke up.

“Okay, how’s about we pretend that I’m one of the people serving tea. If you can’t figure out what to say, I’ll mouth it to you,” Maka suggested. Crona hesitantly nodded. Maka cleared her throat clasped her hands, “Good afternoon, Your Majesty. Would you care for some tea?”

“…um…” Crona stared, clueless.

Maka smiled and mouthed, “Yes, please.”

Crona nodded and repeated, “Um, y-yes, please. I-If you don‘t mind.”

“Oh, not at all, Your Majesty,” Maka grabbed the tea cup and felt that it was full of fresh, warm tea. She poured it in one of the cups and set it in front of Crona. The Patrician looked down at it and then up at Maka. She nodded.

Crona tried to pick up the cup from the handle but with a very weak grip. The cup was tipping over, on the verge of spilling. Crona quickly sat the cup back down. Maka put a hand to her chin and tried to figure out what to do. This reminded her of when she and Soul were drinking tea as they rode with Tsubaki and Black Star and Soul had managed to keep his tea from spilling in the moving cart. _Crona’s grip isn’t very strong, it would be hard to hold the warm cup with both hands but what about the small plates the cups were set on?_ She decided to try it.

“Patrician Crona? If I may suggest something,” Maka spoke up. Crona watched patiently. Maka poured tea in the other cup and picked up the plate with the cup on it. She held the plate with one hand to lift the cup up to her mouth and she gripped the handle with her other hand. Maka raised the cup to her lips and took a sip. She set the cup down and looked back at Crona. The Patrician tried to copy Maka. The plate shook in his hand but he managed to reach it to his mouth. Warm tea pleasantly slid down Crona’s throat. The Patrician set the cup back down and sighed happily.

“This…tastes really good,” Crona said, looking back at Maka. She smiled.

“Well, it’s the Tea Harvesters that make the tea,” she replied.

“Perhaps I should thank them,” Crona murmured. Maka lowered her head sadly.

“I’m afraid that Her Majesty is arresting them,” she replied sadly. Crona glanced at Maka’s sad face and looked away.

“Oh…” Crona set down the cup but still hung onto it.

Maka glanced at the Patrician and remembered she was still supposed to help Crona learn what to say to the ones serving tea. She smiled and picked up the cup of sugar.

“Your Majesty,” she called out. Crona quickly looked back at her and she held out the sugar, “Would you like some sugar with your tea? It shall sweeten the taste.”

“Um…” Crona looked at the tea and then pleadingly at Maka. However, she continued to smile and didn’t say anything. Crona looked back at the tea and hesitantly held it out, “Y-yes?”

Maka nodded and dropped a couple of sugar cubes in the tea. She stirred it with a small spoon for Crona and the Patrician carefully drank the tea. Crona smiled in content. Maka saw and smiled as well. After a minute, Crona expressed surprised at being able to make a decision without Queen Medusa’s involvement. Maka giggled and glanced at Ragnarok. The doll wasn’t grinning and looked very annoyed. Maka felt proud and she and Crona continued to sip their tea.

A few minutes later, Crona set down an empty cup and looked at the ground.

“I think Mother wants me to rule the kingdom the way she does but…I don’t really want to rule a kingdom,” Crona admitted.

“Was is it you want to do?”

Crona was quiet for a moment. Afterwards, the Patrician answered, “I don’t know…I’ve always just done what Mother tells me to do. But—” Crona glanced at the plushy and then whispered to Maka, “—don’t tell anyone, but I’m afraid that I might die because of Mother’s plans.”

Maka became concerned. She whispered back, “What do you mean?”

Crona answered, “She tried to use Black Blood to help her keep a close watch on her subjects. Mother tried it on me but it nearly killed me and Ragnarok, so she put him in a plushy and all the Black Blood was taken out of me. But it worked on the White Rabbit and Little Demon. Now, they are Mother’s best spies. Sometimes, I wonder if Mother would still think I’m useful if I wasn’t her child.”

Maka looked down solemnly for a moment, remembering how Soul couldn’t even bare to watch as the Demon grabbed her. The girl murmured, “You’re more than a pawn.”

“W-what?”

Maka met Crona’s eyes and insisted, “You’re not just a tool for Queen Medusa. You’re a person—with your own feelings and dreams! Don’t forget that!”

The sudden tone different intimidated Crona. The Patrician froze defensively, aside from very slight, panicked nods. Maka realized this, and her look softened. She reached over the table, which Crona flinched at, and Maka gently placed her hands over Crona’s. The Patrician wasn’t sure what to do. Maka said softly, “What I’m trying to say is…your individuality is important. I don’t believe that anyone can take that away from you. Not even your mother. But I think it’s even more important to have the courage to be yourself, and I think you have that courage in you.”

The Patrician wasn’t sure how to respond, but felt warm without knowing why. Crona gave small smile but looked away and blushed. As a distraction, Crona took off the crown and fiddled with the hair underneath. However, the hairs stuck up no matter what. Crona tried to fix it but the hair kept sticking back up. Crona’s hand dropped slowly. The Patrician slowly looked back at Maka. Crona’s fingers started to fiddle, and Crona hesitantly looked back at her, “Um…Maka…”

“Yes, Crona?” she wondered.

Crona looked back at the ground, fingers still twiddling.

“Um, could you…help me brush my hair?” Crona slowly asked and looked back innocently at Maka. The girl’s eyes lit up, and she smiled warmly.

“Of course,” she answered.

Crona relaxed a little and smiled, too.

“Um, there’s a brush in the drawer that’s in the closet,” Crona pointed at the door. Maka nodded and got up. As she walked over to the door, Crona got up and sat on the bed. Maka opened the door to a small closet of dull-colored coats, a few boots, and some shelves of pants and socks. It was surprisingly mundane to Maka. A drawer was in the corner on her right and she opened it. There were a few hair clips, some needles and thread and a wooden brush. Maka picked up the brush and started to walk over to Crona, who had set down the crown on the bed. _I’m glad she’s not treating me like a servant,_ Maka thought. _I think it’s better with us as friends._ Maka sat beside Crona and ran the brush through Crona’s hair. There were a few quiet minutes with only the hush of the brush. Maka slid her fingers through the Patrician’s now, soft, pink hair. It curled like Queen Medusa, but was not as long.

Finally, Maka set the brush down and Crona yawned. The Patrician laid down, and Maka smiled. Maka put the brush back in the closet. She then sat back at the table and poured some more tea for herself, as she listened to Crona’s soft breathing. However, an animal-like squeaking broke the peaceful moment and Crona woke with a start.

“Wh-what’s that?” Crona panicked, arms wrapped around the knees. Maka scanned the room for the source of the noise and stopped at a decorated air vent between Ragnarok and the closet. Crona hugged a pillow and looked over at the black plushy to stop the noise, “R-Ragnarok…”

Maka got up and started towards the vent, “I’ll get it, Your Majesty.”

Crona watched her go and hugged the pillow tighter. Maka knelt in front of the vent and peered into it. She could make out a white, mouse on the other side of the vent making the squeaking.

“Mizune? Wait…” Maka noticed it didn’t have a snake around it like Mizune does but the mouse explained with its squeaks that she was one of Mizune’s sisters. She and the other Mizunes were going to help the one trapped by Medusa and free Eruka, too. She asked Maka how she already knew Mizune, was she a slave, too? Maka whispered the answer, “Yes, I was also captured by Medusa.”

Mizune offered to help her escape. Maka paused. At first, she realized how much she was enjoying Crona’s company, which was followed by guilt upon remembering her original goal. Her mixed feelings about Soul started to rise, but Maka pushed them aside She finally answered, “I’m trying to free the Grim Reaper. I can’t go, yet. I’ve also been assigned as Patrician Crona’s servant. I need to figure out a way to find the Reaper’s son, Death the Kid.”

Mizune nodded. The mouse added that, as she and the other Mizune Sisters were going through the sewers, where they would sneak Eruka and Mizune outside to freedom, they passed by a boy with white lines on one side of his head, yellow eyes and there were two girls wearing top hats with him. Maka smiled. Death the Kid, Liz and Patty did manage to escape.

“Please find them and lead them here,” Maka whispered.

The mouse agreed.

“Good luck,” Maka said. Mizune nodded and left. Maka stood up and glanced over her shoulder at Crona, “it was only a mouse.”

Crona stiffened, “A m-mouse?”

“Don’t worry, it left,” Crona relaxed and Maka walked back towards the table. Crona set the pillow down and joined Maka at the table. Maka picked up the tea pot as Crona sat down, “would you like some tea, Your Majesty?”

Crona nodded, raising a cup. They both quietly sipped tea for a few minutes when Crona looked down at the ground and began shifting around.

“Um…M-Maka?” Crona called out. Maka looked up.

“Yes, Crona?” the girl kindly wondered.

“There’s, um…another thing I don’t know what to do…” Crona began. The Patirican looked back at Maka innocently, “it’s, um, how to dance. Whenever we have a celebration, and it’s a ball, I never know what to do.”

Maka nodded happily, “Okay, I think I might be able to help you. Is there any music we can dance to?”

Crona’s head shook but then paused, remembering something.

“Well…there’s a piano in the music room. It’s pretty much the White Rabbit’s room but he never sleeps there because he always making deliveries, but, um, he does know how to play,” Crona answered.

For a moment, the girl didn’t respond and stared at her own, fiddling thumbs.

Maka got up. She gently grabbed Crona’s wrist and pulled the Patrician up.

“Okay, why don’t we go?” Maka said, not looking at Crona.

“U-um, o-okay,” Crona stuttered.

They went out of the door and Maka looked on either side of the tall, dark hall. Crona pointed to the right, “I-it’s the room at the end of the hall.”

Their steps clattered down the dark hallway. Crona felt nervous and confused, not sure what Maka was feeling. After the feeling of not knowing seemed unbearable, Crona asked, “M-Maka? A-are you, um, feeling o-okay?”

Maka paused suddenly. Crona’s gullet dropped. The girl looked back and smiled, “I’m feeling just fine.”

*~

Soul sat in a small black room with two, large, black doors. Dark red curtains were on the back wall across from the door and black candle stands stood unlit in front of them. A black piano was in the center of the room and Soul sat in front of it with his arms crossed. He glared at the white keys and was still frustrated with his argument with the Queen.

_There was a chance that Wonderland could have been free. There was a chance when Maka freed Kid but I ruined it. I want to be free but this demon, this spy, is a part of me and we’re tied together by the black blood. I can’t do anything. I’m one of Medusa’s servants, her eyes and ears, and can’t ever be free,_ Soul thought. He growled. _I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to stand—_

His ears twitched. There were footsteps outside of the door. _Is it those Guard Dogs? No. Their steps are lighter. Way lighter. Girls? Like who?_

There was a light knock on the door.

“Excuse me,” a familiar voice called. Soul’s ears rose and his eyes widen in shock. The door opened and Maka appeared. Soul looked at her in surprise. Her face was unsettlingly blank. He opened his mouth, as if to talk, but he had no idea what to say. Maka walked in holding someone’s wrist and Crona followed her. Soul cautiously relaxed. He glanced between them. Crona looked nervous as usual, but then Maka smiled at the Patrician. Crona’s uneasiness fell slowly to shy excitement. However, Maka dropped the smile when she looked at Soul. Instead, she coolly regarded him. Soul felt his hear sink. However, he put on his own cool mask and stood to bow in greeting.

“Hello, Patrician Crona” he paused and added, “Hello, Maka.”

Maka returned the bow, “Hello, White Rabbit.”

The words cut Soul.

Maka then looked to Crona, asking, “Would you like to ask him why we’re here?”

“Oh! U-um,” Crona’s eyes dropped, and the Patrician’s fingers began twiddling. Crona’s eyes flittered around, though kept returning to Soul’s face, and the question stumbled from the Patrician’s lips, “W-we, I mean, Maka and I, um—”

Soul crossed his arms and started, “Do you want me to pla—”

Maka shushed Soul. This surprised the rabbit. Crona also paused, but Maka beckoned for the Patrician to continue.

Crona gulped and finished, “W-would you play songs f-for us? I, uh, asked Maka to teach me h-how to dance. If you don’t mind.”

The Patrician looked to Maka, who smiled encouragingly. Soul stared thoughtfully at them for a moment. Maka stared back, though her look was not as cold. Crona glanced between the two, unsure of what was going on.

Soul turned, facing the piano and said, “Alright. I’ll play for you guys.”

As Soul was sitting down, Maka spoke up, “I didn’t know that you played.”

The rabbit’s hands hovered over the keys. He lowered them and looked at her.

She stared and continued, “You never mentioned playing piano.”

Slowly, Soul pulled his gaze away. He sighed and scratched the back of his neck. He looked at his feet and said, “…It’s not something that I like doing. I have to do it—I’m told to, but it’s not something that I choose to do.” He looked at her and added, “And I don’t want any more people to suffer because of it.”

Maka’s eyes widened. Crona was very confused. The Patrician was about to ask if playing music was a bad idea, but Maka spoke up, smiling and twirling her pigtail, “Maybe you could use it to help people instead.”

Soul opened his mouth to combat this, but his words caught in his throat. He leaned back, realizing that he never considered the possibility before. His red eyes searched the piano, turning Maka’s words over in his mind. Finally, his lips spread apart into a grin, revealing his rows of sharp teeth. He looked at Maka and responded, “I’ll start by playing something for you. A simple song for beginners.”

Maka smiled and gently pulled Crona to the center of the room. Then they faced each other.

“You know even how to dance, Maka?” Soul asked, raising his hands over the keys.

“A little of waltz,” she glanced at Crona and added to the Patrician, “though, it’s enough to teach to others.” Maka then called to Soul, “Do you?”

“Of course I do.”

“Maybe you could help teach it.”

Soul scoffed in amusement and said, “Dumb girl. If I do, then whose going to play the music?”

Maka made no argument to this. She instructed Crona about movement and hand positioning. Soul began to play.

The music was simple and light. Maka closed her eyes for moment. It made her imagine she was strolling down a path in the leaf-less forest. The forest wasn’t thick and she could see the blue sky above her with the sun behind her. It looked like it was an autumn. It was comfortable. Maybe it was fall and all the colored leaves were swept away by the cooling wind. Maka reopened her eyes and held out her hands.

“Okay, now take my hands…” Crona carefully took Maka’s hands. The girl looked up at Crona, finishing, “and follow my lead.”

Slowly, Maka took a step forward and took another step to align her feet, and then she back to where she started. Crona followed, stepping back when Maka stepped forward. They went right and back, left and back then backwards and back. They continued this pattern as Soul played. He looked over his shoulder and smiled. Crona looked down at their feet and gradually felt more relaxed. She glanced at Maka and caught her gaze. Crona’s eyes froze for a moment when Maka looked back. Maka smiled warmly and Crona slowly smiled. They continued dancing for a few minutes when Soul’s song slowly came to a stop. Crona and Maka stopped as well and let go of each other’s hands. Crona looked at the ground.

“That was…fun…” The Patrician answered, glancing up bashfully. Maka smiled and held her hands behind her back.

“I’m glad. You did great,” she complemented. Crona looked away and blushed.

“Ah…th-thank you,” Crona murmured. Soul quietly chuckled to himself. His eyes slid back at the piano top, and a grinning silhouette of the Demon appeared. Soul’s smile faded. He angrily gripped the edge of the piano. After a moment, his grip slackened, and Soul flatly looked back at Crona.

“Hey, Your Majesty, don’t you think it’s time you head back to your room?” he asked as nonchalantly as he could.

Crona was surprised but nodded in agreement. Soul got up, and Maka watched quizzically as Crona walked with him. He opened the door and held it open for Crona. The Patrician walked out, and Soul looked back at Maka. He motioned for her to come, and she smiled. She motioned for him to go on ahead, not wanting Crona alone in the hall. Soul shrugged, smiling despite himself, and started out of the door. Maka headed for the door as well. As Soul stepped out, the door started to shut behind him. Soul and Maka both stiffened. He turned heel, and Maka broke into a run. However, when both touched the door to keep it open, it was already locked shut.

Soul slammed his fist against the door and yelled, “Maka!”

Maka grabbed the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge. She quickly pulled out her key and was about to put it in the lock.

“That was fast,” the Demon purred. Maka turned to the Demon standing between the curtains at the end of the room. The candles were lit, though the room was darker around the edges, with red-and-black checkered tiles filling the space in-between. The Demon tilted his head questioningly and continued to smile, “You’re already heading back?”

Maka gripped the key tightly and turned to the Demon bravely, “Of course.”

“This is all a dream, you know,” he pointed out confidently and directed her to the black doorway, “Why work so hard? Why not leave? One mistake and you’ll be stuck here. This dream will become a nightmare. Why not go before it’s too late?”

Maka grinned and turned back to the door, “Since it’s a dream, I might as well have it end as a good dream.”

She inserted the key in the lock and turned it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another chapter that I enjoyed writing. In the original version, I wasn't as ambiguous with Crona's but I made the change so as not to step on the toes of other Soul Eater fans. As it turned out, it was a fun challenge playing with the sentences to avoid gendered pronouns. I'd love to hear what you guys think of this and if you enjoyed reading.


	4. Chapter 4

Soul tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t move. After a few seconds with no response, his ears dropped, and he lowered his head. Crona stared in confusion and horror, not sure what happened. Soul clenched his fist but turned his head away. However, the doorknob started to turn.

Soul stepped back as the door opened, and Maka walked out.

“Maka,” he called out, ears perked. She smiled.

“Soul,” Maka greeted. She glanced at Crona, who still looked worried. The girl smiled at the Patrician and said, “It’s okay, Crona. Everything’s fine. Why don’t we head back to your room?”

Crona relaxed and nodded. The Patrician started down the hall, with Soul and Maka following. Maka edged to Soul’s side as they walked. After making sure Crona was out of earshot, Maka whispered to Soul, “I met one of Mizune’s sisters in Crona’s air vent. The Mizune Family is going to free Mizune and Eruka and they said that Kid, Liz and Patty were walking through the sewers under the castle. I think they’re headed for the room the Grim Reaper’s in.”

Soul nodded. Maka continued, “I’ll ask Crona where it is and we’ll head over there.”

Soul was going to say something, but Maka already entered the room with Crona at the table.

“Hey, Crona,” Maka greeted.

“Oh, hi, Maka,” Crona quietly greeted back and smiled. Maka knelt by Crona’s side and the Patrician’s head curiously tilted.

“There’s something I want to ask…do you know where the room is that your mother locked up the Grim Reaper?” Maka asked.

Crona blinked and concerned flashed over the Patrician’s features. Crona’s eyes darted around in thought but finally seemed to settle on a decision. Crona answered, “It’s straight down the hall on the left.”

The Patrician still looked worried, realizing something was going on. Maka smiled and placed a hand on Crona’s shoulder.

“It’s okay,” she assured Crona, “your mother, Her Majesty, wants me and Soul to do something for her. We’ll be gone for a bit, okay? Do you mind?”

Crona’s head shook, “If it’s Mother, I can’t really stop you. I wouldn’t even know how. But…you’ll be back, right?”

Maka’s smile softened when she stared at Crona’s innocent, black eyes. Maka knew she probably wouldn’t. She hugged Crona and whispered sadly, “I‘ll try.”

Crona was speechless and didn’t know what to do about Maka’s arms. Slowly, Crona hugged Maka back. They both let go after a long hug, and Maka headed for the door. She walked out of the open door, and Soul waited outside. Maka quickly wiped a tear and nodded determinedly to Soul. He noticed but decided not to say anything. _Looks like she became pretty attracted to Crona,_ he thought.

“Alright,” Maka pointed down the hall, “so, the room-”

“Straight down the hall on the left,” Soul cut off smugly.

“How did you-”

“I’m servant here. Remember?” he answered. Maka pouted and started walking down the hall. Soul grinned and followed. Maka and Soul simultaneously realized that Free and/or Spirit could appear at any time, and they glanced at each other. They hurried down the hall as quietly as they could.

They reached a pair of tall, dark brown, wooden double-doors with black metal handles. The two pushed the doors open with a slight creak. Inside were bare concrete walls and floors and something that Maka couldn’t quite make out in the back of the room. They walked closer and it was a large, black cloaked figure chained against the wall with curled, dull, gold bars over it that looked like metal roots. Maka quizzically approached but Soul hissed a quiet warning and she froze. Wet footsteps approached.

There was a rusted, metal grate against the wall. Soul and Maka hurried over to it and looked down through the metal bars. Through it they saw three people; a boy with smooth black hair, white lines and a plain black tuxedo, a tall girl wearing a green top hat over her long, dark blonde hair and a yellow suit and another girl with short blonde hair under a red top hat and a green suit.

“Kid, Liz, Patty!” Maka called out in excitement. Kid’s yellow eyes, which gleamed in the darkness of the sewers. Liz looked up in relief and Patty looked around in the wrong direction.

“Haaa, thank goodness, we made it” Liz sighed. Together, Soul and Maka managed to pull the grate open and help them up.

“Sorry, Kid,” Maka said as she helped him up, “the plan’s changed. We got discovered and lost the poison. Can you still free your father under these circumstances?”

Soul noticed she said “we”, as in both of them. _She should mention it was me who caused the change in plans,_ he thought. _I already feel guilty enough trying to hide it._

“I’ve noticed,” Kid replied as Soul helped Liz up, “well, don’t worry. It only made it a little more challenging to get here. I can still free him.”

When Liz was up, she and Soul got Patty up, and they set the grate back in place. Kid stared at the trapped figure and everyone looked with him.

“Father…” Kid called out quietly.

Maka stepped to his side.

“That’s what he looks like?” Maka wondered.

“When he’s trapped like this, yes,” Kid answered. He started towards the figure and continued, “I’m going to begin freeing him. Liz, Patty, please, keep watch.”

“Okay,” the Tea Gatherers replied. Maka straightened up.

“Me and Soul should go and get the scythe,” she turned to Soul, “you know where they’re keeping it, right?”

Soul doubtfully looked down and began, “Yeah, but-”

“Let’s go!” Maka cut off and ran towards the door. Soul looked up and watched her suddenly go in surprise.

“H-hold on! Hey, wait a sec, Maka!” Soul called after her. They hurried out of the door and Maka stopped in the middle of the hall to wait for him to catch up. Soul sighed. _Guess I don’t have choice here,_ he thought and added grimly, _I just hope that I won’t screw things up again. At least this way, I won’t be able to tell if Kid frees the Grim Reaper before we get the “scythe.”_

Maka turned to him when he stopped beside her.

“Which way?” Maka asked.

“Down the hall ahead of us, take a left, take the first right and it’s around the corner on the left,” Soul answered tilting his head side to side with his ears flopping back and forth.

Maka nodded and they hurried down the hall. They followed Soul’s directions up to the second left turn around the corner. They both took a step out into the hall and both noticed Free and Spirit standing guard outside of a stubby, red, double door down the hall on the left. Soul quickly grabbed Maka’s arm and pulled both off them back before the dogs noticed them. They leaned against the wall and tried to catch their breath.

“Crap,” Soul said, slapping his head, “I completely forgot that Free and Spirit were guarding the vault.”

Maka asked, “How are we suppose to get the scythe?”

After a moment, Soul grinned.

“I know this place like the back of my hand,” Soul said. He knocked his hand against the wall and a wide panel opened. He continued, “I know all the rabbit holes around here. But, they’ll probably hear me rummaging through there. Think you can distract them?”

Maka thought about it for a moment and nodded. Soul took a few steps back then ran at the hole and slid across the floor, into it. She glanced around the corner. Free was leaning against the wall on his right of the door and Spirit stood on the left, dozing off. She drew back, wishing that Blair was around, and then she remembered the collar. Maka drew out the belled collar. She turned it over in her hand and shook it gently.

“Huh? What was that?” Free said.

Maka stiffened.

“What was what?” Spirit asked, as if waking up.

“It sounded like a collar. I bet it was that cat.”

“Oh! You mean Blair? She’s here?”

“Oh, no you don’t. You’re staying here at your post,” Free growled to Spirit.

“But we have to investigate the noise, don’t we?”

“Whatever. She’s probably gone now.”

Maka smirked and jingled the collar again.

Spirit almost barked of joy, “She’s back! I’ll go talk to her.”

Free replied, “No, we have to stay at our post.”

The werewolf continued, directing his voice down the hall, “Because unlike _some creatures_ we actually have jobs to do!”

“Now, don’t yell Free. You might scare her sounding that angry,” Spirit replied. Free looked back at him, baring his sharp teeth.

“I hope I do.”

“Maybe she wants to apologize for bothering us earlier,” Spirit tried to convince him.

“Then she shouldn’t be taunting us officers!” Free yelled, losing patience.

The argument continued. Soul crawled out from the rabbit hole, using one arm to pull himself out and holding the yellow and white scythe in the other hand. Halfway out of the hole, he glanced at Maka, seeing her hiding her laughs and jingling the collar.

“What are you doing?” Soul asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Stalling. You got what we need?” she responded.

“Yeah, let’s head back,” Soul said. He handed her the scythe, and she put away the collar before they silently snuck away.

They returned to the Chamber and Liz and Patty spotted them outside of the doors. Patty walked in first and announced their arrival, “Kiiiiid! They’re baaaack!”

Maka hurried past Patty with the scythe and rushed to Kid.

“Kid, we got the scythe. Did you free him?” Maka asked. Liz and Patty also walked over to Kid and Soul stayed behind near the door. Kid dropped his hands and turned grimly to Maka.

“I’ve tried all I could but I can’t,” Kid answered. They all looked back at the trapped, cloak figure, “Medusa…she put some sort of lock on him. I can’t open it. It’s no ordinary lock.”

Maka scanned the cage. Chains tied over the cloak and pinned it to the wall. Golden bars curled over the figure and immobilized him. Near the bottom was a small metal box with a small key hole. A slight glow in Maka’s eyes revealed the course of action in her mind.

Suddenly, the doors creaked to a shut behind Soul. Everyone looked back in shock. Soul ran over to the doors, and, as he placed his hands on the handle, he glared through the door. _Demon…_ he thought murderously.

Maka started at Soul and the closed doors for a moment but she snapped back to her original train of thought and reached into her apron pocket. She pulled out the key.

“What are you doing?” Soul growled. The Demon stood behind the doors, in the utter blackness, beside a lit candle stand, a curtain and a piano. Soul wrapped his hand around the handle, but he flinched away when he felt something thick and slippery. There was black liquid that looked like oil but with a red tint sliding onto the handle from between the doors. Realizing this, Soul quickly pushed against the doors to keep them closed. _Black blood…_ he thought and could feel the pressure against the other side of the door. _It’s trying to flood in through the doors._

“This might unlock it,” Maka explained and started towards the lock.

The blood started to come in from under the doors and it slid in as smoothly as thick water. Maka stopped and looked down at the black and red tinted liquid that started to seep into her slippers. Kid, Liz and Patty also looked down at the flood in concern. Soul pushed himself into the tall doors.

Liz and Patty went to help him, but he shouted, “No! Stay back!”

The girls paused. Soul continued, “You have to get out of here! _Now!_ ”

“The sewers,” Liz thought aloud. Her and Patty rushed to the grate, but it wouldn’t budge. The black blood had crystallized over the grate, so the blood wouldn’t be drained away in the sewers. Liz and Patty tried stamping at the hardened blood, but they chipped away slower than the blood was flooding in.

“Maka,” Soul yelled with his face against the door, “unlock it, already!”

Maka started to run but her foot was caught, as if the blood grabbed her ankle. She fell and hit the blood face-first. She came up gasping and the key had slid out of her hand. The blue key dropped into the ankle deep and rising blood. She dropped to her knees and searched through the water. She looked desperately and saw a noticeable blue shape in the rising blood. Some small cracks had formed and drained away inconsequential amounts of blood.

“Catch the key!” Maka yelled, realizing what was happening.

Liz and Patty were caught by surprise. They saw the key and reached at the same time, but they knocked their heads together. Because of this, they missed and the key slipped through a crack. Maka tried to run over to the crystallized blood, in hopes of breaking it. But she lost her balance, tripped again by the blood, and fell in the knee-high blood. She hit her head on the condensed blood and was in pain for a moment under the dark red tint. Maka quickly recovered and broke back to the surface.

Soul continued to push the door as the waist-high blood continued rising. He burned his red eyes through the doors.

“Are you trying drown us? You’ll kill me, too!” Soul pointed out in rage. _We’ll both die,_ Soul added in his thoughts. The Demon looked up with his gleaming yellow pupils, directly where Soul was glaring and answered humorlessly.

“The black blood is already inside you, a part of you. It won’t kill you,” The Demon added darkly, “however, it will surly kill your “friends” and they will drown.”

Soul growled and tried to push farther into the door. He growled bloodthirstily, “Demon…”

Maka waded in the chest deep blood and tried to get over to the cloaked figure. She didn’t have the key, what was she suppose to do? Liz and Patty couldn’t build up the speed to strike the blood crystal. They held each other close as the blood reached their necks. Kid tightly shut his eyes, unable to think of what to do and the blood rose to his chin. Maka thought, _Death the Kid couldn’t open the lock. I had the key that unlocks anything but I lost it._

“Demon…” Soul growled again through his clenched teeth as the blood reached his lips.

Maka floated in the flooded room of blood. It was so thick she couldn’t rise nor sink. She could move if she swam but didn’t have the motivation. The room already filled up completely. Kid also floated in the water. He would be able to last the longest, being the Grim Reaper’s son. He glanced at Liz and Patty, who still hugged. Liz looked scared, but before the blood submerged them Liz told Patty they would play a game. The game was to hold your breath the longest, and Liz said this, hoping that Patty wouldn’t get scared. Soul was still against the doors. The Demon was right, the blood wasn’t going to kill him as quickly as it would everyone else but he still needed to hold his breath.

Maka floated and stared at the cloaked figure. She made herself move and swim over to the lock. She floated over it and looked down at the lock. _How do I open this? I can’t. I failed. I don’t have the key. I lost it._

_Is this how it ends? Trapped and drowning?_

_But how did this begin? I fell down because I let my mind wander too far. I wasn’t pay attention. I failed because I couldn’t hold my grip._

A thought struck Maka, like a key turning in a lock.

_But I didn’t just fall down. I opened the door. If I didn’t open that door, I wouldn’t be here right now. I wouldn’t have met Soul or anyone. I don’t know if that key was there before I was, but I chose to unlock the door. I opened the chest, I unlocked the statue, I went through the door._

Maka felt something open inside her and was as if she escaped her body. Kid saw a blue light out of the corner of his eye. He looked at saw it was coming from Maka, no, out of Maka. Soul also noticed the blue light as well.

_I am my own key._

A small, winged, blue ball of light slowly appeared from Maka chest and inserted into the keyhole. There was a loud, metallic click and the chains started to loosen. The light disappeared and Maka choked, bubbles of breath escaping her mouth and she fell limp in the blood.

The cloaked figure came to life and quickly floated over to the crystallized blood. It raised a large black arm and slammed it onto the harden blood, shattering it to pieces. The blood released into the grate and everyone was lowered back into the ground. Soul released his breath and was soaked in blood along with everyone else. Liz sat up and looked at Patty who was happily lifting herself up.

“You okay, Patty?” Liz asked. Patty joyfully looked over at her sister.

“Yep, sis!” she answered. Kid panted and was on his knees. He slowly looked up and saw Maka unmoving on the ground. His yellow eyes widened.

“Maka!” he quickly ran over to her. Soul’s drooped ears managed to twitch and he glanced over his shoulder. He froze and his heart pounded when he saw Maka unmoving.

Kid knelt beside Maka and felt her pulse. It was faint and getting fainter. He tilted her head back to open her airway. Kid had his ear over her mouth to see if she was breathing. Nothing. Kid pinched her nose and placed his mouth over Maka’s. He breathed into her and lifted his mouth from hers. Still no moment. Kid clenched his teeth and tried mouth to mouth breathing again. Nothing. He leaned over her and placed his hands in the middle of her chest. He gave her chest compressions then finally she coughed out the black blood she choked on. Maka turned over and gasped for air. Kid sat back and sighed of relief.

Soul watched Maka continue to move and breathe and he turned back to the door.

“Demon…open this door. Now!” Soul commanded. The Demon didn’t reply, “Demon!”

The Demon looked away, as if to ignore Soul. Soul angrily growled and lowered his head. His growls subsided and he grinned.

“Oi, Demon,” he called out looking up. The Demon glanced back at him, and Soul continued, “You know, the Grim Reaper’s freed. If you keep the door locked like this they can still go around in the sewers and with me being here, keeping the black blood on the other side from flooding this room again, “we” won’t be able to warn Medusa. So, what’s your choice? Have them escape through the sewers and have Medusa caught by surprise or open these doors and let them go this way but at least have the chance to warn the Queen?”

The Demon didn’t reply.

“Well?” the rabbit prompted.

Soul felt the pressure behind the doors disappear and the tall doors reopened to the tall, dark, empty halls. Soul turned to the others and directed them to the open doors with a victorious smile. Patty clapped and Liz stared at him for a moment but looked back at Kid and Maka. Maka regained her breath and Kid stood beside her.

“Are you alright?” Kid asked, holding out a hand. Maka smiled and took it.

“Yeah,” he helped her up then they both stood in realization and they looked over, past Liz and Patty. The sisters turned to look as well and Soul followed their gazes. The Grim Reaper stood in front of the grate. He was looming figure, his black cloak was shredded and torn but no skin showed, just black cloak. His arms were the same as the rest of the cloak but he had three, large, claw-like fingers at the end of each arm. He wore a white skull-shaped mask that was threatening, frightening and empty of any life.

“Father…” Kid called out in awe. Maka also stared in amazement but she straightened up and approached him. She unsheathed the scythe and looked up at him.

“Your Reaperness-” she began.

“Please, do not look directly at my face,” the reaper’s deep, commanding voice softly ordered and he looked away. Maka dropped her gaze the ground but she knelt down and held up the scythe to him.

“-your scythe,” she offered. The reaper looked back and gazed down the weapon.

“That’s not my scythe,” Maka gasped and looked up.

“What?” Maka asked in disbelief. Everyone looked stunned.

“Actually, he’s right,” Soul agreed. Everyone turned to him and he was scratching the back of his head. He let out a sigh, “that scythe is just an ordinary scythe. Medusa locked it up in a chest, with the same kind of lock she used to trap the Grim Reaper, and fooled everyone into thinking the “scythe” was important and essential to overthrowing her. That way they wouldn’t know where the actual one was.”

“Yes, the actual scythe is probably with Medusa herself,” the Grim Reaper added, “I’ll need to retrieve it.”

“Right, we’ll first come up with a plan-” Kid began.

“Well, if you’re coming up with plans, I’d better get out of here,” Soul spoke up as he headed for the door. Kid looked over at him quizzically and Soul glanced over his shoulder, directly at Kid, “we can’t let the eyes and ears of Queen Medusa hear this.”

Kid’s mouth opened in shock, Liz didn’t quite understand what he meant and Patty was amusedly watching Soul leave. The reaper had watched Soul go and looked at Maka, who was staring at the ground with determination in her eyes.

Soul shut the doors behind him and he started to walk down the hall.

“Where are you going?” the Demon asked.

“To find those idiot guards and see if I have to deliver anything. I’ve got a pretty good feeling Medusa meant what she said,” Soul answered and keep walking.

“No, we have other places to be,” the Demon replied. Soul suddenly froze and the Demon temporarily stopped him. The halls darkened to complete black, expect for the light on Soul’s left in the three-way hall and glowing candles on each corner with dark red curtains by them. The Demon grabbed Soul’s arm and started to pull him towards the light, “Medusa needs to be informed.”

Soul planted his feet on the ground started to pull himself back, “No. _I’m_ not going, so _we_ aren’t.”

The Demon, however, had a good grip on Soul and he couldn’t pull himself away, “We are the eyes and ears of Queen Medusa. That’s our job.”

“That’s your job, I’m just a Tea Deliverer,” Soul tried to use his other hand to pry the Demon’s long fingers off, “now, I’d like to get back to it and get it over with.”

The Demon looked back at Soul, who’s efforts had no prevail but continued, “Why do you want to continue doing a job you hate? Do you have confidence in the Grim Reaper and Maka or are you deciding to kiss up to Medusa before she figures out you are responsible?”

Soul continued to try to free his arm and growled in annoyance. The Demon’s eyes narrowed. 

       “Face it. You are nothing but a helpless rabbit. You only do what you can to stay out of danger and you run and hide. You’re nothing but a groveling weakling and this snake has you under her thumb. Accept the fact, you idiot. You are one of Queen Medusa’s servants, her tool. Quit trying to fool yourself. That girl is not your friend, not the key to freedom. We are to make sure of that, me and you. No matter how hard you try, you’ll remain loyal to Medusa, just accept that and move on. Now…” Demon’s grip relaxed on Soul, as Soul dropped his free hand and the Demon held out his other hand, “do you want me to report to Medusa or shall you?”

Soul opened his mouth to protest but he closed it and lowered his head in defeat, “I will.”

The Demon grinned and led Soul down the hall with no resistance.

**~~

“We’ll have to catch Medusa when she’s off guard,” The Grim Reaper reminded them, “it will be no easy task with her being as powerful as she is.”

Kid responded, “Well, at first, I was relying on Maka to put the poison in her tea to help you destroy her but with how the circumstances have changed…I suggest that we use the spare poison I gave Liz, and then we’ll try to find where Medusa stores her tea and put it in there.”

“A-ah, right…” Liz reached into her jacket pocket and found nothing. She searched in the other with no luck. Liz panicked and looked through all her other pockets twice. She finally stopped and sighed unhappily. She looked up at Kid with pleading eyes and a quivering lip, “My extra pack got swept up by the blood! I’m sorry, Kid.”

“That’s okay, sis!” Patty loudly assured. She took off her hat and pulled out a bag of poison, “Patty brought some!”

Liz proudly clasped her hands and Kid smiled, knowing that only Patty could do such a thing in the last minute. Patty walked over to Maka and handed it to her. She closed her fingers over it and was filled with a sense of determination.

“Okay, me, Liz and Patty will go to put the poison in Medusa’s tea,” Maka decided.

Kid nodded and added, “Me and Father will look for a place for Father to wait for an opening. The rest of us will need to regroup and be ready to assist him.”

“We’re counting on you to make sure Medusa gets that poison,” The Grim Reaper added cautiously. Maka nodded and she headed for the doors with Liz and Patty following. Kid and The Grim Reaper both headed for the grate.

The girls entered the hall and continued running as they spoke.

“So, Maka…do have any idea where we should go?” Liz asked uncertainly. Maka looked at the ground regretfully. _Shoot,_ she thought. _We should have had Soul here and he could help us but he needed to leave or he would have—no. It’s not his fault. He only wants to protect us._ She looked back up and felt her spirit lift with joy at a suggestion.

“I have an idea,” Maka answered. She lead them to an open door and stopped right beside it. Maka handed them her scythe and the poison and whispered, “wait here a sec. I’ll be back.”

Maka walked to Crona’s room. Crona was at the table, pouring a cups of tea. Maka smiled softly and knocked on the door.

Crona looked up and smiled, “Maka! You’re back.”

“Crona…” Maka walked over to Crona and they hugged. They let go of each other and Maka knelt by Crona, who stayed sitting, “me and Soul finished what we needed to do. What have you been doing?”

Crona looked down, a little embarrassed, “Waiting for you…”

Maka giggled, “Crona…”

Crona looked back and smiled. Maka smiled back but she remembered what she needed to do.

“Hey, Crona,” Maka began. Crona looked at Maka wonderingly, “do you know where your mother stores her tea?”

Crona blinked and answered, “If you go down the hall on the left, pass the intersection there should be a door on the left right by it.”

Maka nodded and smiled in thanks, “Okay, well, I have to go again, alright?”

She felt herself choking up, but she tried to hold it back. She needed to take care of Medusa first. Crona looked a little disappointed but nodded. They both hugged again but a little longer this time and Maka hesitantly left. She exited the room and gave them a thumbs-up, her throat was still constricted.

Maka returned to Liz and Patty.

“You okay?” Liz asked.

Maka nodded and pointed back down the way they came, “There should be a door right next to the intersection.”

Liz and Patty nodded and they hurried that way. The three stopped at the small, brown door and Liz opened it. They all looked into a small, wooden room crowded with sacks of tea, overflowed shelves of more tea and there was a small table with a few bags of tea on a tray.

“Is this it?” Maka asked and they blinked. The girls walked in and Maka held up the poison and looked down at the tray of tea. Patty looked out of the doorway and looked back to Liz and Maka.

“Someone’s coming,” Patty warned.

*~

Soul walked up the dark stairs and entered through the black, metal door back in the Garden. Soul glanced at Medusa, who sat by herself, bored. The rabbit sighed and walked forward onto the carpet. Medusa noticed him and her eyes narrowed. She sat up, glaring.

“What is it?” she asked, “It must be important since I didn’t call you up.”

“It is. The—” Soul stopped and looked back at the metal door to see Spirit arrive with a cart with a tea set on it. He closed his mouth in a grin and looked back at Medusa, “actually. It can wait until after your tea.”

He could feel that the Demon glaring but he ignored it. As Spirit drove the serving cart in front of Medusa, she waved Soul over, “Soul, come over and stand by my side, so I won’t have to look at you past Spirit.”

Soul nodded and walked over to Medusa’s left. She unnoticeably looked down at him and narrowed her eyes. _What was it he wanted tell me? He is my spy and it must have been important…and not good,_ Medusa thought. Spirit poured some tea in a cup and handed it to Medusa. She took the cup but stared at it skeptically.

Medusa held the cup out to Soul, “I would like you to drink this first.”

Soul stiffened. _If they decided to use the poison…_ Soul thought. _I’m dead._ He looked up questioningly at Medusa and she held the cup out further to him, grinning in a snake-like manner. Hesitantly, Soul took the cup with both hands and he stared at the tea. His ear twitched. He sighed and lifted the cup to his lips. Medusa leaned forward eagerly as Soul swallowed. He lowered the cup and closed his eyes, waiting for something.

A minute passed and he reopened his eyes quizzically. Medusa blinked and leaned back in her chair. Soul looked down at the tea and looked back up as Spirit started to pour Medusa her own cup. Soul stiffened when he saw the small bag of poison sitting on the serving cart right next to the cup. _The idiot didn’t put the poison in,_ Soul thought with an angry grin.

“Now, hold on,” Soul spoke up and Spirit looked over as he held out the tea to Medusa, “this tea doesn’t taste right. It needs sugar.”

Spirit set the cup down and looked at it questioningly. Soul walked between Medusa and the serving cart, and he looked accusingly at Spirit, “What were you thinking? You were about to give the Queen this tea before it was any good. What are you, some kind of idiot?”

Spirit scoffed and turned away angrily. The rabbit quickly took the chance to open the bag and pour the poison in. Spirit turned back around and reached for the cup but Soul snatched it away.

“I’ll do it,” he said impatiently. He turned to Medusa and held the cup out to her with his head bowed. Spirit snorted angrily and moved the cart to the Queen’s left. Medusa smiled and took it. She held the cup with one hand and lifted it to her mouth. She lowered it and noted the odd taste.

She stiffened and the cup fell on the ground, spilling tea on the grass. Medusa gagged and found herself unable to move. She looked back wide-eyed at Soul and he looked back up at her with a victorious grin.

There was a loud crash as something shot out of the ground from under the serving cart. Medusa looked over, petrified, and recognized the Grim Reaper’s black figure.

“Death!” she called out in shock. He looked over her, threateningly.

“You’ll get yours at the end of my blade, Medusa,” he swore and hurried into a maze entrance that was behind Crona’s throne. Soul looked at the rabbit hole under the Maze by the entrance, and he quickly hurried into it.

“Spirit, get Crona! Free go after the Reaper!” Medusa ordered still stuck in her throne. Spirit looked regretful but he hurried through the metal door. Free, who was at the other end of the red carpet, took a step forward but Maka broke out of the bush wall with a battle cry and her scythe pulled back in her hands. Free took a step back and avoid Maka’s slash but it was too close for his liking. Maka turned the scythe around and slashed again. Free took another step back and raised his claws. He slashed down at her and she blocked it with her scythe above her head. There was a metallic clang with the clash and Maka jumped back, out of his reach. She spun her scythe and charged at him with another yell. Maka raised the scythe and forcefully brought it down. Free jumped back in time and the blade dug deep in the ground. The wolf hurried forward and grabbed Maka by the ankle. He lifted her upside down off the ground and the scythe was pulled out of the ground with her.

Maka couldn’t attack in her position. Medusa narrowed her eyes and Maka’s reflection reflected off her yellow eyes, “You…”

Medusa then commanded, “Free! Drop her in the Abyss!”

Grinning, Free walked over to the bush wall. There was a wooden cellar door on the ground by the wall. Free opened the doors to an endless black abyss and he dropped Maka in it. Maka was looking up at Free as she fell and was going to try to reach for a ledge but it was too late, it was already far out of her reach and she disappeared with a cry.

Spirit came through the metal door leading Crona, who held Ragnarok. Once the doll touched the grass, he came to life. His jaws started snapping and he charged into the Garden Maze, dragging Crona with the chain leash.

The Reaper went straight through the Maze and he glanced behind his shoulder in time to see Ragnarok pounce at him. The plushy suddenly stopped short as a pointed metal pole pinned the chain leash to the ground. Ragnarok glanced at Kid, who gripped the metal pole and he looked back at Crona, who was picked up by Liz and Patty.

At the end of the maze there was a long, black scythe mounted on the bush wall. Soul appeared from a hole under a bush wall across from it. He quickly crawled out of it and grabbed the scythe. Soul tightly gripped the black pole and hurried back into the rabbit hole. The Grim Reaper appeared, seeing the missing scythe, and he quickly looked at his right in time to see Soul slipping into the hole. The Reaper’s eyes narrowed and he started back the way he came.

Soul appeared out of the other end of the tunnel and Medusa smiled at the sight of him.

“Soul, good. Hurry and give that to Spirit and you’ll both give it to the Kishin. Free, you need to help me out of here and we’ll hurry out of the city until we can lose the Grim Reaper,” Medusa ordered. Soul took a step forward but stopped when the Reaper appeared. Medusa looked anxiously at Soul and Death glared at him.

Soul’s gripped tightened and he flung the scythe over to the Grim Reaper. The Reaper caught it with ease and the blade gleamed when he pulled it back. Soul looked up at the witch with glowing red eyes, “I’m not you servant boy anymore, Medusa.”

Medusa gasped and the Grim Reaper charged at the Queen.

“It’s time to end your rule, you nefarious witch!” The Grim Reaper roared and raised his scythe. He swung the blade behind Medusa and slashed the witch in half. Medusa’s face widened in shock as her upper body started to fall forward, no longer attached to her lower body and she started to break apart into countless black snakes.

Soul watched as the snakes withered away, no longer powered by Medusa’s magic. He lazily slid his eyes across the scene around him, as everything started to calm down. Free watched Medusa’s death and was about to run but Spirit lassoed a chain leash around Free. Spirit was loyal to the Grim Reaper again since Medusa had passed. The wolf glared at the dog and snorted, “Kiss up.”

Because of Crona’s lack of resistance, Liz and Patty stopped trying to restrain the Patrician. With Medusa gone, the child had no spite against them and felt more relieved than anything. Even still, the garden seemed far too quiet and empty, as if missing something important. Crona murmured, “Where’s Maka?”

Soul looked around, also wondering. His gaze froze at the open cellar doors, revealing the endless Abyss inside, and he yelled, “Maka!”

***~~~

Maka sunk through the blackness like water but with only empty air. There air was tinted blue with a pale blue checkered tile. She turned herself over and softly landed feet first. When her slippers touched the ground, gravity reclaimed its grasp over her.

She was in a blue shaded room with blue-grey pillars, blue curtains and a blue-black piano. A large, silent, blue lantern floated above the piano, and Maka looked hopefully around for a door. Her eye caught on the piano, noticing the little red Demon beside it.

“You…” Maka growled.

The Demon looked up, uninterestedly, and closed his eyes with a smile. He held his arms behind his back and walked around the piano.

“Ah, are you sick of seeing me? Well, don’t worry soon we both will have the relief of no longer seeing one another,” he spoke smugly and disappeared behind the piano.

“What do you mean?” Maka asked across the room. The Demon appeared around the corner of the piano, gripping the piano leg. His eye widened with his yellow pupil gleamed.

“You’re going back home,” he whispered. Maka blinked, her heart dropping and twisting. The Demon smiled, as if he could see her heart, and he walked a few steps towards her, “Your stay in Wonderland has expired. You said you wanted this dream to end in a good way. Well, now it’s ended.”

He pointed a finger at her feet and she couldn’t move. She quickly looked down to see her ankles had sunk into the tile she stood on and she continued to sink. The Demon chuckled and stared to walk towards her, his eyes glowing.

“Ha, ha, that’s reality trying to pull you back. It’s time to wake up. Wake up,” he started to sound more and more excited with each word. Maka struggled and tried to pull her feet out.

“No, no! I can’t! Not now,” she cried. The Demon shook his head disappointedly and walked around her.

“Such an inconsiderate child, what about the people waiting for you back in reality? Do you plan to stay in your wonderland until you’re sick of it? And then come back when you’re tired of the real world? How ungracious,” the Demon scowled mockingly. Maka stared down at the Demon, still struggling to break free. He grinned, and his pupils were yellow beads of light. Suddenly, thick, black blood dripped from the ceiling onto Maka like a waterfall, hardening and enclosing around her. It wrapped around her, and she tried to pull away but her elbows were caught. The Demon chuckled, “It’s time to go back, Maka. Wake up. Wake up. Ha, ha! Wake up!”

It spread to her face, rolling over her mouth and nose, before finally dripping over her eyes, engulfing her completely.


	5. Epilogue

Soul Eater  
Crona’s Bedtime Stories:  
Wonderland  
Epilogue

~*~*~*~

Maka reopened her eyes and was immediately greeted by the sun.

“Hey, Maka, are you awake?” Kim, a girl standing in front of her, asked. She was her age with short, pink hair, blue eyes. Kim wore a jean dress with straps over her white, long sleeve dress.

“Ah, so you’ve awaken,” said a boy, Ox Ford, from nearby. He was bald with two black spikes of hair behind his ears. He wore thick, glasses, a white long sleeve shirt under a checkered brown vest and brown pants. Another boy, Havar, stood beside Ox Ford. He had spiky, black hair tied in a short, pony tail, an unreadable gaze and wore a dark grey jacket with black pants.

“We were gonna have picnic and looked for you,” a cheerful and energetic boy, Kilik, spoke up. He had short, black dreadlocks wore black glasses, a white, long sleeved shirt, black tie and black pants over his dark skin, “Mr. Frankenstein told us you were reading a book over here after class and we found you here asleep. Come on, my mom’s prepared a great meal for us. You should try it.”

There was another girl beside Kim. She had long, black hair and wore a brown, short-sleeve dress, with a white apron over it and a white, long sleeve dress under it. Jacqueline held out her hand. Maka smiled and accepted it.

The other kids ran ahead of Maka, to the picnic that Kilik’s mother set up. Maka strolled after them. She moved through the sun-lit grass and held her hands behind her back as she gazed at the world around her. She stared up at the white clouds above her and the feeling of freedom was in the air. She looked over at a group of tall, budding rose bushes on her left as she passed it. There was a tall, red flower outside of the bush, a camellia, and standing beside it was a shorter flower with strange, blue, star-shaped petals.

Maka smiled, recalling the taste of tea in her mouth. A little farther ahead on the bushes was a small tree stump with an ax jutting out of the side of it and a spider web was connected from the stump edge to the bush with a black spider spread out on it and a mosquito flying around it. Barking in the background caused Maka to turn her head towards the woods on her right. There was a brown dog tied to a post near the edge of the forest that was barking at creature nearby and a grey wolf quickly disappeared into the bushes.

Maka looked back ahead to see Kim and Jacqueline sitting on a red and white checkered blanket with a basket by their sides and a tea set between them, as well as a basket of vegetables. Maka picked up a carrot but did not stay with them. They laughed and Jacqueline was pouring tea in their two cups. Maka continued past the girls. Meanwhile, Kilik, Havar and Ox untied the dog and chased it around the rest of the grassy area. Maka watched them and Kilik and the dog ran past a lone teddy bear that was left behind and there was a small, dark green snake slithered around it.

She approached more woods and looked at an opening on her left. There was a small hill with a tiny clearing surrounded by more trees. In the clearing were a pack of rabbits that sniffed around at the grass. When Maka’s footsteps were heard, a red cat in the bushes nearby rushed off and most of the rabbits ran away. She stopped in front of the clearing and saw one lone white rabbit. It continued to sniff around curiously and looked up at with its red eyes. Maka knelt in front of it. She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out the carrot.

The white rabbit sniffed the air and carefully started towards her. It looked up at her questioningly.

“Hey, it’s something other than tea, right?” Maka said to the rabbit. It looked back at the carrot, almost making a shrugging motion and started to nibble on the carrot tip. Maka watched it and smiled.

~~~~~~

Crona flipped to the next page and realized that it was the last one. Ragnarok had gone quiet and may have fallen asleep. The stone walls of the cell didn’t seem as cold or lonely as before. Crona’s head was filled with colorful images and expressive voices. The Meister hugged the book, feeling the drifting pull of sleep, and thought, _I can’t wait for me and Maka to go to the library again._

**Author's Note:**

> Cat Crescent: Would you guys believe me if I said I originally wrote this story back in 2009? I've since tweaked some scenes and done what I could to clean up the sentences, but I'm still incredibly proud of this story. What I've loved about this story is how I feel like I drew from both my love for Soul Eater and Alice in Wonderland. I'd love to hear what you guys think and if my middle school narrative seems to still hold up. The rest of the story is already written and edited, so updates will be daily and this isn't a very long story. Enjoy!


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